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Comment by nozzlegear | Hacker News Reader

> We should be paying attention to it just in case it ends up mattering enormously. It's cheap insurance.

This sounds a lot like the argument some people give for praying and going to church even if you aren't a believer.

"You should be doing it just in case God ends up being real."

On the other hand, we have recently taught rocks to think about software engineering. And while not perfect, they're surprisingly good at it. Once you start building things that are even a little bit like minds, I suspect that it's worthwhile to consider that the future might end up looking a bit like science fiction.

The alternative is to insist that Nothing Ever Happens, and the future won't get too weird. Which is no longer a bet I'm entirely comfortable with. Weirdness is at least a possibility.

God being real is also a possibility, so maybe we really should start praying. After all, he was allegedly making bushes and stones talk thousands of years before we did anything with thinking rocks.

Being nice to other entities costs you nothing. Caring about others costs you nothing.

Ironically, these are core tenents of ~most religions

Ironically, the story of the Bible is that caring about others can cost you an excruciating death.

Its only a possibility if you reject modern science.

What science has proven, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that nothing comes after death? I'm sure most of the human race would be very interested to read the white paper.

Science has proven that the earth wasn't created by a magical fairy 6000 years ago, yes. There's very little doubt about that among educated people.

I think even most religious people accept that bud, unless you're talking to a specific sect of evangelicals. It doesn't disprove religion or "magical fairies" [†] at all.

[†] r/atheism circa 2016 called and want their dorky terminology back.

Christians don't believe they're made in the image of God? That's news to me.

I think we've lost the plot, you were talking about the earth being made 6000 years ago and now you're talking about people being made in the image of god? You're just scrabbling for anything you think will score a cheap shot, when I'm not even Christian bro. Go try to dunk on someone who's at least half as emotionally invested in this as you are, goofball.

Yes, believe it or not, Christians have more than one crazy belief. There's an entire book full of them.

Serious biblical scholars don't put much stock in the Genesis account being literal. It was written in classical Hebrew's poetic verse. The core of what it's getting at can still be true without it being literal. I have yet to encounter an instance where anything that science has discovered is incompatible with Christianity.

There are plenty of white papers the human race seem unwilling to want to read on this subject, though ..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Stevenson

Right, but you can say that about literally anything can't you? We have to put our energy into leads. Where's the lead that model welfare matters?

Sure if you think that AI spiraling out of control is equally as likely as a magical fairy in the cosmos.

I do, make of that what you will.

Pascal’s wager… but for the new AI gods

Of course you then have Roko’s Basilisk to consider.

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