Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by lxmorj 4345 days ago
So stupid. Roko's Basilisk and Roko's Infinite Blowjob Machine are equally probable.

When I was a kid I watched a movie about a monster that came up from the basement when the kids in the house accidentally said an ancient Indian incantation.

"BlahBlahBluey" or something

I got scared that perhaps, the last thing I said "Good Night, Batman" or whatever, was in fact coincidentally an ancient curse incantation and I had summoned a monster who was en route to kill me.

"Blah!" I'd say, changing my words to "Good Night, Batman Blah!"

Ah, much better.

But then FUCK! What if "Good Night, Batman Blah!" is the cursed incantation!!! Repeat over and over until I was sufficiently convinced that no one had ever uttered the previous sequence of sounds I had just made, become exhausted from an entirely too powerful imagination, and fall asleep.

I'm pretty sure this 'thought experiment' is about as intellectual as I was at bedtime when I was 7.

2 comments

"So stupid. Roko's Basilisk and Roko's Infinite Blowjob Machine are equally probable."

I think the latter is a lot more likely and I predict we'll see it before the singularity.

Does this machine count? http://betabeat.com/2014/06/crowdfunded-electronic-blowjob-m...

(warning: language mildly NSFW, plus of course a video of a blowjob machine. No naked ladies, though)

> Roko's Basilisk and Roko's Infinite Blowjob Machine are equally probable.

I agree. So what would they be so afraid of? My assumption is that the LessWrong community tries to come up with the best system of thinking, so by proving (by presenting a situation which shows that the best system is flawed, since we may be slaves right now) means that there really is no hope.

As far as LessWrong in general, they share some controversial opinions but some of their concepts seem very interesting[1]. However, learning and especially thinking about these concepts does not appear to have any positive effect in everyday life.

[1] http://lesswrong.com/lw/k5/cached_thoughts/