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The post “The Magnitude of His Own Folly” (2008-09-30) contests Y22. Explicitly rejects his earlier full-speed strategy. He says his childhood technophilia broke when he understood that a failed superintelligence project could kill everyone, however good the arguments for proceeding. Copy claim link
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Supporting evidence: primary · 1 source
Date 2008-09-30 · publication Role Contesting, Later restatement 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 reaching superintelligence is good by default, so speed is what matters. Looking back Reports his earlier plan to proceed at full speed. The record is dated by the report. Scope and limits Premise addressed: Reaching superintelligence is good by default, so speed is what matters. Overcoming Bias post of 2008-09-30 ('The Magnitude of His Own Folly'), imported to LessWrong. The same post says of his earlier plan: 'I had proposed and intended to build the gun, and load the gun, and put the gun to my head and pull the trigger'.
The evidence 01 primary source Supports the claim
The Magnitude of His Own Folly ↗ Overcoming Bias · 2008-09-30
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Source excerpt “I looked back and I saw the careful arguments I had constructed, for why the wisest choice was to continue forward at full speed, just as I had planned to do before. … Nature was still allowed to say "So what?" and kill you.” Location in source closing paragraphs, paragraph beginning 'I looked back and I saw the careful arguments'
Machine-checked · 2026-10-06
Source details and check notes Authors Eliezer Yudkowsky Version Post body retrieved through the LessWrong GraphQL API on 2026-10-06 (SHA-256 b8248bdf153a9b560707312176ce7d06f85673f9b541cb7dd1722978f261f70d), content version 1.0.0. As imported to LessWrong. Canonical address Open the canonical source ↗ Accessed 2026-10-06 Language English (en) Attribution Eliezer Yudkowsky, “The Magnitude of His Own Folly”, Overcoming Bias, as imported to LessWrong, 2008-09-30. 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 T22-c. The quotation (44 words) matched the retrieved expression (SHA-256 b8248bdf153a9b560707312176ce7d06f85673f9b541cb7dd1722978f261f70d) 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-y22-lw-2008-the-magnitude-of-his-own-folly-c