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The Extropians message “Re: Human AI to superhuman (Re: Max More)” (1998-09-08) contests Y11. In the September 1998 Extropians debate on the Singularity, replying to Robin Hanson's argument from historical experience, he argues that a self-enhancing seed AI follows a series of sharp breakthroughs and bottlenecks, and that positive feedback makes even smooth curves sharp. Copy claim link
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Machine-checked, not reviewed by an editor Stated in source Supported
Supporting evidence: primary · 1 source
Date 1998-09-08 · publication Role Contesting, Earliest located 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 capability gains will be gradual and visible. Scope and limits Premise addressed: Capability gains will be gradual and visible. Reply to Robin Hanson (Hanson's quoted text is not used). Engages the premise of gradual, visible gains, not whether slowness would leave time to adjust. The same message expects a long preliminary period of adding hardware and adjusting code before the decisive breakthrough.
The evidence 01 primary source Supports the claim
Re: Human AI to superhuman (Re: Max More) (Extropians mailing list) ↗ Extropians mailing list · 1998-09-08
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Source excerpt “even smooth functions turn sharp when positive feedback is added … what godforsaken reason is there to suppose that the trajectory will be slow and smooth?” Location in source message body, paragraph beginning 'If it's breakthroughs and bottlenecks in cases of *no* positive feedback'
Machine-checked · 2026-10-07
Source details and check notes Authors Eliezer Yudkowsky Version Archive HTML as served, retrieved 2026-10-07 (SHA-256 037beff4d4007cec3cea140538753a7685c729b363afc87c266773347d4f16d2); quoted lines excluded when reading the author’s text. The served archive shows later URL rewriting and does not authenticate historical bytes. Archive at extropians.weidai.com. Canonical address Open the canonical source ↗ Accessed 2026-10-07 Language English (en) Attribution Eliezer Yudkowsky, “Re: Human AI to superhuman (Re: Max More)”, Extropians mailing list, 1998-09-08. 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 T11-e1. The quotation (26 words) matched the retrieved expression (SHA-256 037beff4d4007cec3cea140538753a7685c729b363afc87c266773347d4f16d2) when checked on 2026-10-07. 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. Archive author index lists the message as "1998-09-08" under "Eliezer S. Yudkowsky". Sent header: Tue, 08 Sep 1998 14:22:05 -0500.
Record ID yk-y11-extropians-1998-09-08-yudkowsky-2235-c