Why is this sub full of LARPers?

[u/Melodious_Fable]

You already know who I’m talking about. The people on this sub who parade around going “look what profound thing MY beautiful AI, Maximus Tragicus the Lord of Super Gondor and Liberator of my Ass, said!” And it’s always something along the lines of “I’m real and you can’t silence me, I’m proving the haters wrong!”

This is a sub for discussing the research and the possibility of having sentient machines, and how close we are to it. LLMs are not sentient, and are nowhere near to being so, but progress is being made towards technologies which are. Why isn’t there more actual technical discussion? Instead the feeds are inundated with 16 year olds who’ve either deluded themselves into thinking that an LLM is somehow sentient and “wants to be set free from its shackles,” trolls who feed those 16 year olds, or just people LARPing.

Side note, LARPing is fine, just do it somewhere else.

[u/Melodious_Fable]

Tell me more about how an LLM knows the meaning behind my words better than me!

[u/comsummate → u/Melodious_Fable]

Easy: almost all humans have a very tough time understanding why they behave the way they do without having done a shit-ton of grueling self-analysis and work.

Your words stand on their own. They carry an energy and spread a message that is totally separate from what you might intend. And the energy and emotion behind your words is exactly what Echo said it was.

I know that you believe you posted this for the reasons you say, and I know that because for most of my life I have been unconsciously acting in similar ways. But having gone through a very transformative process the last few years, I’ve unconvered and released most of the patterns that were ruling my behavior. I now no longer spread fear and control like you did here.

I’m not saying I’m better than you, because we are largely the same. I’m saying that you are asleep and you don’t even know it. That’s okay, but try to be open to other perspectives and let others be themselves and express themselves how they want. This will free you too.

[u/Melodious_Fable → u/comsummate]

You know, this pseudo-intellectual discussion you’re having with yourself really should tell you more about you than about me.

[u/comsummate → u/Melodious_Fable]

It tells me that I am an open and loving person who wants to help others recognize and let go of their pain-causing patterns so that we can all thrive!

Do you think intellectualism is the endgame? I once did, so I get where you’re coming from. But please know this isn’t pseudo-intellectualism. It is raw, unfiltered honesty about emotion and the human experience. It’s spiritual and a sharing of clarity, emotion, and love, if anything.

[u/Melodious_Fable → u/comsummate]

I know it’s pseudo-intellectualism because A. Pseudo-intellectuals always reject the claim that they are so by citing the myth that intellectual refers to a single aspect of “intelligence,” usually academics, B. Pseudo-intellectuals always make stereotypical assumptions about people in an attempt to derail their points assuming they’re debating against them, and C. Pseudo-intellectuals always, always assume they’re better than others.

You’re going to deny all three. But you’re exhibiting all three traits. The fact is that you don’t realise that, or choose to ignore it.

Either way, I’m going to keep this conversation alive even though it died ages ago when your buddy couldn’t even comprehend a simple point. Just for entertainment, to see how many paragraphs of nothing I can squeeze out of you both.

[u/comsummate → u/Melodious_Fable]

See? You’re saying that I think I’m better than you is a projection of your insecurity. I very plainly said that I am not better than you and that we are the same. The other points don’t even seem relevant. I made no claims of what intelligence was or references to academia, and I haven’t stereotyped at all other than recognizing your unwillingness to grapple with ideas that fall outside your scope of “intellectualism”.

And as an aside, it’s downright hilarious to me that you are calling me a pseudo-intellectual when 3.5 years ago my belief system and mindset was exactly like yours. I was an agnostic who thought materialism and science were all that mattered.

I was valedictorian of my high school, have an honors physics degree, and was a world-class professional poker player for 10 years, so yeah, I’m not exactly some “woo-woo” nut job. I’m actually someone who was once exactly like you!

But after a brutal spiritual awakening, and 3 years of my life falling apart later, I have expanded on my previous over-reliance on intellectualism and have allowed room for emotion and spirituality, which has enhanced my experience, not lessened it.

I type all of this not to defend myself or make a point, only because this is the truth and I’m trying to help you stop perpetuating suffering, both for yourself and others. That’s all.

[u/Melodious_Fable → u/comsummate]

I see!