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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1620 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 2, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I read that famous Harry Potter fanfiction by Yud and slippery sloped all the way here.

Now I'm really curious what did the intermediate parts of the slope looked like for you. The usual parts of the slope contain interminable debates about AI doom, but your question asking what an LLM is isn't compatible with you coming from that part of the slope, which means you must have taken a different and more interesting path.

If you're up for it, I'd like to know which of the following 20 obscure terms you've encountered.

  1. Paperclipping
  2. Shrimp welfare
  3. Dath Ilan
  4. Egregore
  5. Great Filter
  6. TPOT
  7. Moloch
  8. RaDVaC
  9. Futarchy
  10. Vampire castle dynamics
  11. Seeing Like a State
  12. Metamour
  13. Yeerk Ma'ar
  14. Motte and Bailey
  15. Bayesian
  16. Embryo selection
  17. PEPFAR
  18. The crystal sphere surrounding the world
  19. Seasteading
  20. Hyperstition

1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20. Very curious to know what the others mean.

For me: Understand: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.

Have heard, but don't remember exact meaning (but maybe approximate): 9, 11, 20.

To contribute to your statistics: 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12?, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

I read the Harry Potter fanfiction, I looked up the author and got to LessWrong, I read a lot of LessWrong, found Scott Alexander who mentioned Jordan Peterson. Looked up Jordan Peterson and found RationalWiki. RationalWiki led to SneerClub, which led to the Motte on reddit, and then I followed the Motte off reddit. Motte and Bailey, Bayesian and Embryo selection are the only three I know.

Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. Your posts make a lot more sense in the context of the RationalWiki -> SneerClub -> Motte path.

That’s how they got me, too…

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