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vgr's profile
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
@vgr

Tweets

Venkatesh Rao

@vgr

This is my conversational account. For my work follow @ribbonfarm, @breaking_smart, @artofgig. Tweets are 90% vacuous views, apathetically held. Mediocritopian.

Los Angeles, CA
venkateshrao.com
Joined August 2007

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    1. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 25 Oct 2019
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      Thinking about the rule of totalitarianism "Everything not forbidden is compulsory." (T. H. White) which Gell-Mann ported to physics. Science of Discworld 2 states it as the principle of societies run on tribal law.

      2 replies 1 retweet 27 likes
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    2. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 25 Oct 2019
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      In the physics interpretation it leads to the sum over histories method and many worlds interpretation. What happens is a function of everything that *could* happen. So there is no room for free will at the multiverse level of quantum description. Every path must be in the sum.

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    3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 25 Oct 2019
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      The general idea is agency closure over a perfect knowledge condition. There is no non-instrumental knowledge. Everything that is known can drive action, and all action not prohibited by law must happen.

      1 reply 1 retweet 8 likes
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      Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 25 Oct 2019
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      So there is no such thing as a pure observer view of the world. If you know something you must either act on it or be actively constrained from acting by law. Human totalitarianism is a sort of illusory physics based on a manufactured illusion of perfect knowledge.

      8:33 AM - 25 Oct 2019
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      • portalnyc the revolution is now ian hines _ brrr Seitz Matt Laporte Andrew Brož Bandeauxx. Brian Ramsdell
      2 replies 0 retweets 10 likes
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        2. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 25 Oct 2019
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          Or equivalently, freedom to act or not act in non-totalitarian systems is a function of an explicit procedural accommodation of formal ignorance. “It’s neither forbidden, nor compulsory” = “we don’t know”

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        3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 25 Oct 2019
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          You can only be free in proportion to the ignorance you acknowledge Everything you claim as knowledge will force you to act or run into a constraint

          2 replies 0 retweets 9 likes
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        4. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 25 Oct 2019
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          In practice both prohibitions and compulsions constrain behavior down to a resolution threshold of indifference. That threshold is where gap between world perception and claimed complete knowledge of the world is small enough that you can credibly claim omniscience/omnipotence

          1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes
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        5. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 25 Oct 2019
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          Closing this gap = exercise of raw power and hiding anything whose appearance cannot be made to conform to omniscience/omnipotence posture. Interestingly this always requires totalitarian human rulers. Totalitarian rule systems alone can’t maintain the appearance of totality.

          1 reply 0 retweets 4 likes
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        6. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 25 Oct 2019
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          A related humanist principle is “to understand everything is to forgive everything” This allows for pseudo free will. You can make choices, there will be wrong choices in proportion to knowledge, and you can’t be held responsible by those who know better.

          0 replies 1 retweet 8 likes
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        7. End of conversation
        1. New conversation
        2. Marrrrrrrrrk P Xu Neyerrrrrrrrrrr‏ @APXHard 25 Oct 2019
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          Replying to @vgr

          My multiverse-basedv view says choice-making is navigating. Sure, other choices happen, but you aren’t observing those world tracks.

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 25 Oct 2019
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          Replying to @APXHard

          This principle says if you know everything about a state S, all actions but 1 will be impossible, and the 1 action will be unavoidable. So no choice.

          2 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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