I suggested the following question for Carl Shulman a few years ago
I’d like to hear his advice for smart undergrads who want to build their own similarly deep models in important areas which haven’t been thought about very much e.g. take-off speeds, the influence of pre-AGI systems on the economy, the moral value of insects, preparing for digital minds (ideally including specific exercises/topics/reading/etc.).
I’m particularly interested in how he formed good economic intuitions, as they seem to come up a lot in his thinking/writing.
@Saul Munn recently asked me what my current take on this was and then suggested I share it online—it’s very lightly edited.
I think if I were to speak to my undergrad self I’d prioritise: • reading a lot of SOTA background material (e.g. Dwarkesh podcasts on AI stuff) • becoming literate in a bunch of seemingly useful fields (e.g. CS, math, econ, philosophy) with some bias towards things that are fun and motivating • try to contribute to the intellectual frontier as quickly as possible (e.g. via LessWrong) on topics that seem very important • find a community of people that care about similar stuff, ideally in person—consider starting a “better futures”, or “what to do about AGI” group.
I suggested the following question for Carl Shulman a few years ago
I’d like to hear his advice for smart undergrads who want to build their own similarly deep models in important areas which haven’t been thought about very much e.g. take-off speeds, the influence of pre-AGI systems on the economy, the moral value of insects, preparing for digital minds (ideally including specific exercises/topics/reading/etc.).
I’m particularly interested in how he formed good economic intuitions, as they seem to come up a lot in his thinking/writing.
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/ytBxJpQsdEEmPAv9F/i-m-interviewing-carl-shulman-what-should-i-ask-him?commentId=vqrxdfNEnYioDEt4N
@Saul Munn recently asked me what my current take on this was and then suggested I share it online—it’s very lightly edited.
I think if I were to speak to my undergrad self I’d prioritise:
• reading a lot of SOTA background material (e.g. Dwarkesh podcasts on AI stuff)
• becoming literate in a bunch of seemingly useful fields (e.g. CS, math, econ, philosophy) with some bias towards things that are fun and motivating
• try to contribute to the intellectual frontier as quickly as possible (e.g. via LessWrong) on topics that seem very important
• find a community of people that care about similar stuff, ideally in person—consider starting a “better futures”, or “what to do about AGI” group.
This is pretty general advice. I might try to focus on Holden’s list Important, actionable research questions for the most important century or similar.
Related LW thread: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/XYYyzgyuRH5rFN64K/what-makes-people-intellectually-active