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The post “Recursive Self-Improvement” (2008-12-01) contests Y10. In the Hanson–Yudkowsky FOOM debate, he argues that recursive self-improvement makes a moderate, human-paced trajectory unlikely: a smooth outcome would need diminishing returns tuned exactly right. Copy claim link
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Supporting evidence: primary · 1 source
Date 2008-12-01 · publication Role Contesting Register (kind of text) Nonfiction Engagement Engages a premise. Under the message-level rule, the passage, read with the paragraph, message or dialogue turn it belongs to, gives a reason against the premise that returns to reinvesting cognitive gains in further cognitive improvement diminish. Scope and limits Premise addressed: Returns to reinvesting cognitive gains in further cognitive improvement diminish. Overcoming Bias post of 2008-12-01, imported to LessWrong; date is the OB date.
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Recursive Self-Improvement ↗ Overcoming Bias · 2008-12-01
Archived copy, captured 2019-04-27: Recursive Self-Improvement ↗
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Source excerpt “When you fold a complicated, choppy, cascade-y chain of differential equations in on itself via recursion, it should either flatline or blow up. You would need exactly the right law of diminishing returns to fly through the extremely narrow soft takeoff keyhole.” Location in source paragraph beginning 'When you fold a complicated, choppy, cascade-y chain'
Machine-checked · 2026-10-06
Source details and check notes Authors Eliezer Yudkowsky Version Text checked in the post’s first stored version through the LessWrong GraphQL API on 2026-10-06; content version 1.0.0. Now hosted on LessWrong. Canonical address Open the canonical source ↗ Accessed 2026-10-06 Language English (en) Archive copy Open archived copy, captured 2019-04-27: Recursive Self-Improvement ↗ . Captured 3799 days after the recorded publication date. An archive copy shows only what the archive retrieved on 2019-04-27. It does not prove what the page said earlier, and it can differ from the copy checked on 2026-10-06.Attribution Eliezer Yudkowsky, "Recursive Self-Improvement", Overcoming Bias (now hosted on LessWrong), 2008-12-01. Reuse No open redistribution licence asserted. Bibliographic metadata, editorial paraphrases and short attributed quotations (at most 50 words each). Recheck terms before wider redistribution. Check notes Candidate pack passage T10-b. The quotation (42 words) matched the retrieved expression (SHA-256 34ea901661c803591b6d581d82ff54b8c1aa103012712b5d5e94ae099a13657c) when checked on 2026-10-06. Status and meaning Editorial status. Not reviewed by an editor . An exploratory record that no editor has accepted. This status does not say whether a person has read any linked passage. Each evidence record above shows how it was checked.
Relation. A passage of the document disputes the proposition or a premise it depends on. The record documents the text’s position, not who is right.
Date. LessWrong postedAt of an imported Overcoming Bias post (Overcoming Bias date).
Record ID yk-y10-yudkowsky-2008-recursive-self-improvement-c