How Should Rationalist Approach Death Skepticon 4 Panel

Moderator: Jesse Galef

Panel:
James Croft
Greta Christina
Julia Galef
Eliezer Yudkowsky

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During filming, if a powerpoint slide is just a reiteration of what the speaker is saying, without any new information, I do not cut to it. If you are screaming, "What the fuck is on the projector!"... This is the answer.

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[IseeRightThrough2you]

@MrAdvancedAtheist Google "Less Wrong" and read some of his writings about Belief in Belief, and other subjects on rationality. His writing is beautifully lucid, and I gained an enormous level of respect for him after reading his work.

I also like how he didn't feel the need to bullshit himself by saying that death isn't all bad. Death sucks and we need to fix it. End of story.

[ciphergoth]

In general, it is safe to say that someone who talks about a cryonics patient having their power cut off does not know very much about the subject.

[jimtrueblue99]

There are no easy answers about death for atheists? What? I thought that subject had the easiest possible answer: when you're dead, you're dead. Kaput. Finito. From Epicurus and Leucretius down to the frivolous few attending atheist soirees like Skepticon, "don't worry--when it's over it's over" ought to be the strongest--maybe the only--selling point for atheism. Live as long as you can; then drop deader than a sack of potatoes. That's the atheist outlook. Why complicate it with thinking?

[IseeRightThrough2you]

@MrAdvancedAtheist He may not be the first person I'd pick to be rich, but at least he is a good thinker and communicator. I'd much rather see him have the time for his pursuits than, for example, some dipshit athlete who can barely spell his own name, or a CEO whose modus operandi is to screw the consumers and labor force as much as possible to maximize profit.

[MrAdvancedAtheist]

Just look at Eliezer's soft hands and weak physical mannerisms. He doesn't project a strong male presence, yet he claims he can attract chicks for poly relationships. How does he pull that off?

[namnack]

@MrAdvancedAtheist That hardly addressed my point.

[MrAdvancedAtheist]

@blacklinen99 I would say, "Death sucks and we need to fix it. Beginning of project." Or as the cryonaut Robert Ettinger wrote in his last book, "If wishing doesn't work, try working." BTW, Eliezer should look into working to expand his repertoire of experiences, especially because he needs to see how ordinary Americans have to live. I can see him in a blue vest as he gathers shopping carts from the parking lot of a Walmart.

[MrAdvancedAtheist]

I just wonder when the cognitive dissonance in cryonics will set in as our underperforming century drags on. James Bedford, the first cryonaut, might have thought before his suspension in 1968 that he could have awakened, young & healthy, in that mysterious, far-future year 2012.

[MrAdvancedAtheist]

@namnack No, the UFO skeptics show photos of unknown things in the sky and provide prosaic explanations for them. Atheists do something similar to the Masked Magician by showing how the illusions of religion really work.

[MrAdvancedAtheist]

@ciphergoth Just ask these people if they used thermos bottles when they took their lunches to school, and if they had to plug them into electrical outlets.

[MrAdvancedAtheist]

@IseeRightThrough2you

If Eliezer wants to blog about his interests on his own time, fine. I just don't see how he manages to talk people into giving him money to support his lifestyle. His patron Peter Thiel should ask for a refund.