[HN Gopher] Kolmogorov Complicity and the Parable of Lightning
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       Kolmogorov Complicity and the Parable of Lightning
        
       Author : phab
       Score  : 40 points
       Date   : 2021-12-18 17:30 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (slatestarcodex.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (slatestarcodex.com)
        
       | chrispeel wrote:
       | In case you missed it, there is such a thing as "Kolmogorov
       | complexity"; I guess the author is making an alliterative pun by
       | titling the post "Kolmogorov complicity"
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolmogorov_complexity
        
       | moffkalast wrote:
       | Well it seems pretty clear cut, "as long as you invent things
       | that let us deus them vults better you'll get funding from us,
       | but promote free thinking or anything that undermines our grip
       | over the masses and we will murder you with fire."
       | 
       | In the end it's all always about pragmatism.
        
       | marcosdumay wrote:
       | Well, if you want to do it right, you don't just "not discuss"
       | the orthodoxy, you go out of your way to make discussing the
       | orthodoxy very clearly forbidden on the research circle. You put
       | "we won't allow anybody to talk about lightning" on the first
       | paragraph of your institution's code of conduct. You actively
       | censor people discussing it, and do all you can to erase it from
       | their history.
       | 
       | On a related matter, people actively insisting that you discuss
       | the lightning issue may be consciously trying to do the exact
       | opposite, and get you in trouble. And, of course, if discussing
       | the orthodoxy gets people in trouble, that's a different issue
       | from the orthodoxy itself and you may be more or free to talk
       | about it, or maybe less, it has to be independently evaluated.
        
       | throwaway81523 wrote:
       | 2017. Raised eyebrows for a moment because slatestarcodex moved
       | to another url a year or so ago.
        
       | exolymph wrote:
       | This was published in response to a lament about James Damore, in
       | case anyone is wondering about the immediate context. The
       | proximate issue was that women and men, on average / in
       | aggregate, are different. But the general principles apply to
       | other issues as well.
        
         | civilized wrote:
         | Ah yes, Mr. Damore. Author of a document the entire prestige
         | media called an "anti-diversity screed" in perfect lockstep,
         | even though anyone could read it for themselves and see it was
         | nothing of the sort.
         | 
         | 2017 sure was a year for the history books.
        
         | bpodgursky wrote:
         | "Men and women are exactly the same in every way that is
         | societally meaningful, but it remains critically important that
         | people can surgically switch between those genders at will."
        
       | ptidhomme wrote:
       | Interesting article in the current context of orthodoxies such as
       | "vaccines are efficient against the spread of Covid-19".
        
         | AaronFriel wrote:
         | How so?
        
           | lstodd wrote:
           | Very.
        
           | resource0x wrote:
           | Worse than yesterday, but better than tomorrow.
        
         | tomrod wrote:
         | Except the orthodoxy of COVID-19 vaccine efficiency happens to
         | be scientifically accurate and evolutionary advantageous as
         | well, which is the article's argument promoting Kolmogorov
         | complicity. So let's retire this tired retread without the
         | dignity of yet another thread.
        
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       (page generated 2021-12-18 23:00 UTC)