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this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2024
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TechTakes
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Big brain tech dude got yet another clueless take over at HackerNews etc? Here's the place to vent. Orange site, VC foolishness, all welcome.
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'I'm going to invent a new government system!'
'New system or just monarchy with extra steps?'
E: "I could eat a bowl full of paper and vomit a better electoral system than that." and "If you have an alignment plan I can't shoot down in 120 seconds, let's hear it.", Yudkowsky's overestimation of his own abilities is high this week.
When pressed about the kind of system he could invent, he says STAR voting.
Has anyone asked Mark Frohnmayer if he also used the eating a bowl full of paper and vomiting technique when creating the STAR system?
I could invent a state of the art cryptographic hashing function after half a litre of vodka with my hands tied behind my back. Coincidentally the algorithm I'd independently invent from first principles would happen to be exactly the same as BLAKE3 so instead of me having to explain it, you can just skim the Wikipedia page ~~like I did~~.
Well there is something to be said for just trying to make a new system yourself, as a hobby/thought experiment. So I'm not totally opposed to creating something that already exists. It is just weird he thinks he has something new and shining and good here, and not babbies first attempt at creating a voting system. (insert 'wow things are complicated' xkcd here).
Him not realizing (or not caring) about him being completely unoriginal while thinking he is hot shit is funny though. Shit having a certain amount of sycophants must suck so much, as it removes any ability to truly judge if you are being dumb or not, as there will always be a revolving door of those who kiss your ass.
It's not that he invented anything, even something that was already invented. He claimed he could invent a new system if he wanted to and when asked to deliver, just namedropped an existing system.
Also a subjectively bad one at that—given his america-brained position on wanting to maintain a single executive not that suprising but:
I think it's less america-brained and more just straight up cryptomonarchist.
For what it's worth STAR looks like something Yud wishes he would design, or would design if he could. A complicated system that assumes a highly informed electorate and allows for counterintuitive victory conditions sounds exactly like something appealing to him.
lol ow sorry, yeah that is even worse.