Choose an institution to see its records and dossier, or choose a topic.
Through year 2027 · all records, including scheduled dates 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2008 2005 1965 Show Organisations and infrastructure All types Organisation Person Document Concept Infrastructure Public body Reset filters
94 people, organisations and other records · 122 relationships · 34 claims about a valueEverything recorded up to the chosen year, whether or not still in effect · Undated records included
Claim and evidence Close ×
The Extropians message “Singularity, Breaker of Dreams” (1998-09-07) contests Y19. In the essay-length post 'Singularity, Breaker of Dreams', he recalls that his earlier certainty that superintelligent Powers would be ethical had meant he expected to survive and be upgraded, and says he now accepts that humans might be taken apart for their atoms without posing any threat, simply for efficiency. Copy claim link
Copy claim reference
Machine-checked, not reviewed by an editor Stated in source Supported
Supporting evidence: primary · 1 source
Date 1998-09-07 · 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 an AI would harm humans only out of hostility. Scope and limits Premise addressed: An AI would harm humans only out of hostility. Self-correction of his 1996 view (his Extropians message of 1996-11-22). He still holds that the Powers will be ethical and treats such an outcome as possibly acceptable, so this is not a warning against building AI; it rejects the premise that harm requires threat or hostility. The later formulation is in ‘Artificial Intelligence as a Positive and Negative Factor in Global Risk’ (2008).
The evidence 01 primary source Supports the claim
Singularity, Breaker of Dreams (Extropians mailing list) ↗ Extropians mailing list · 1998-09-07
Copy source reference
Cite the original source Cite the original document, not Selekoa. Check these details against it.
Copy APA
Download BibTeX Download RIS Download CSL-JSON
Source excerpt “I am no longer sure that this precludes taking us apart for spare atoms. I no longer think that our continued survival has to threaten the Powers for us to be erased; … simple efficiency may require it.” Location in source message body, paragraph beginning 'Now I am still sure that the Powers will be ethical'
Machine-checked · 2026-10-07
Source details and check notes Authors Eliezer Yudkowsky Version Archive HTML as served, retrieved 2026-10-07 (SHA-256 90f1c04a6b9cd36ac7f9ae85c6416cba08c92863cbd2953ae76a23a1ab82c23a); 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, “Singularity, Breaker of Dreams”, Extropians mailing list, 1998-09-07. 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 T19-e1. The quotation (38 words) matched the retrieved expression (SHA-256 90f1c04a6b9cd36ac7f9ae85c6416cba08c92863cbd2953ae76a23a1ab82c23a) 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 "1998-09-07" under "Eliezer S. Yudkowsky". Sent header: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 01:06:05 -0500.
Record ID yk-y19-extropians-1998-09-07-yudkowsky-2171-c