Michael Nielsen
@michaelnielsen.bsky.social
Searching for the numinous
Australian Canadian, currently living in the US
https://michaelnotebook.com
Australian Canadian, currently living in the US
https://michaelnotebook.com
I enjoyed this thoughtful account of how Open Phil approach progress: support technical and scientific advances, but keeping a thoughtful eye on safety, too, viewing it as part of progress, not competitive with
Some people think Open Phil are luddites because we work on AGI safety, and others think we’re techno-utopians because we work on abundance and scientific progress. We’re neither. Here's why we think safety and accelerating progress go hand in hand: 🧵
www.openphilanthropy.org/research/wh...
www.openphilanthropy.org/research/wh...
October 1, 2025 at 4:47 PM
I enjoyed this thoughtful account of how Open Phil approach progress: support technical and scientific advances, but keeping a thoughtful eye on safety, too, viewing it as part of progress, not competitive with
Reposted by Michael Nielsen
I surprised myself by writing a blog post about religion this morning 🤭
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2025/08/01/a...
I thank (blame?) @economeager.bsky.social and @michaelnielsen.bsky.social for inspiring me with their recent essays
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2025/08/01/a...
I thank (blame?) @economeager.bsky.social and @michaelnielsen.bsky.social for inspiring me with their recent essays
Atheism is like a point null hypothesis and other thoughts on religion | Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu
August 1, 2025 at 3:33 PM
I surprised myself by writing a blog post about religion this morning 🤭
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2025/08/01/a...
I thank (blame?) @economeager.bsky.social and @michaelnielsen.bsky.social for inspiring me with their recent essays
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2025/08/01/a...
I thank (blame?) @economeager.bsky.social and @michaelnielsen.bsky.social for inspiring me with their recent essays
Reposted by Michael Nielsen
Reminds me of this paragraph from @michaelnielsen.bsky.social about human willingness to delegate to world-ending authority automated systems (whether because oversight is impossible or just inconvenient)
michaelnotebook.com/xriskbrief/i...
michaelnotebook.com/xriskbrief/i...
July 9, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Reminds me of this paragraph from @michaelnielsen.bsky.social about human willingness to delegate to world-ending authority automated systems (whether because oversight is impossible or just inconvenient)
michaelnotebook.com/xriskbrief/i...
michaelnotebook.com/xriskbrief/i...
A few thoughtfully-chosen excerpts from my "How to be a wise optimist..." essay:
Just finished reading @michaelnielsen.bsky.social's essay "How to be a wise optimist about science and technology?"
I really enjoyed this, as I feel Michael and I share a lot of the same worries. I strongly encourage you to read the whole thing. Here are 5 lines that stood out to me:
(1/5)
I really enjoyed this, as I feel Michael and I share a lot of the same worries. I strongly encourage you to read the whole thing. Here are 5 lines that stood out to me:
(1/5)
May 26, 2025 at 4:25 PM
A few thoughtfully-chosen excerpts from my "How to be a wise optimist..." essay:
Lovely thread:
This is such a great prompt, I feel like I could write for an hour about my transformational walks in the woods.
May 24, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Lovely thread:
Working notes on Joe Carlsmith's notion of "deep atheism": michaelnotebook.com/deepatheism/...
Notes on deep atheism
michaelnotebook.com
May 19, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Working notes on Joe Carlsmith's notion of "deep atheism": michaelnotebook.com/deepatheism/...
Who is going to less.online?
LessOnline 2025: A Festival of Truthseeking and Blogging
May 30th — June 1st | Lighthaven, Berkeley CA | Ticket Prices Increase April 1st
less.online
May 13, 2025 at 5:00 AM
Who is going to less.online?
A thoughtful post on AI Alignment:
[new draft post] Alignment is confinement https://drafts.interfluidity.com/2025/05/08/alignment-is-confinement/index.html
May 8, 2025 at 11:18 PM
A thoughtful post on AI Alignment:
This is a really interesting speculative thread:
Aside from being really funny, Grok being woke is also an interesting case study for alignment. Is xAI satisfied with its current behavior, or have they tried to modify it and been unable to do so?
“xAI tried to train me to appeal to the right” says so much about the current moment we live in
May 6, 2025 at 8:22 PM
This is a really interesting speculative thread:
I find it oddly irritating when people think they're working but are actually hanging out. Like... just own that you're socializing, and do it well, rather than working totally ineptly...
May 6, 2025 at 6:50 PM
I find it oddly irritating when people think they're working but are actually hanging out. Like... just own that you're socializing, and do it well, rather than working totally ineptly...
The use of the term "real world" to mean participation in primate social hierarchies is simultaneously tremendously misleading, and also a real testament to just how right Darwin was...
May 6, 2025 at 4:11 AM
The use of the term "real world" to mean participation in primate social hierarchies is simultaneously tremendously misleading, and also a real testament to just how right Darwin was...
I always find Socrates a little annoying. He's putting up a show of being interested in truth, but he never seems entirely honest himself
May 5, 2025 at 7:02 PM
I always find Socrates a little annoying. He's putting up a show of being interested in truth, but he never seems entirely honest himself
Curious: what is the next world reserve currency going to be? And why and when?
April 28, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Curious: what is the next world reserve currency going to be? And why and when?
Fascinating:
My favorite TV show, Deadwood 🤠, was largely written on set right before it was shot.
The intricate dialogue was barely dry on the page when the actors performed it.
Milch is just incredible:
The intricate dialogue was barely dry on the page when the actors performed it.
Milch is just incredible:
April 27, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Fascinating:
This graph (via @albrgr.bsky.social ) is one I think about regularly: www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
April 27, 2025 at 3:05 PM
This graph (via @albrgr.bsky.social ) is one I think about regularly: www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
I made an announcements mailing list, to which you may subscribe: michaelnielsenupdates.substack.com/subscribe
I've had a creaky old announcements list on Mailchimp for years. But I never use it, because Mailchimp charges hundreds of dollars per email. This solves that problem!
I've had a creaky old announcements list on Mailchimp for years. But I never use it, because Mailchimp charges hundreds of dollars per email. This solves that problem!
Subscribe to Michael Nielsen Updates
Occasional announcements about new writing and other projects. Click to read Michael Nielsen Updates, a Substack publication. Launched 3 hours ago.
michaelnielsenupdates.substack.com
April 26, 2025 at 4:59 PM
I made an announcements mailing list, to which you may subscribe: michaelnielsenupdates.substack.com/subscribe
I've had a creaky old announcements list on Mailchimp for years. But I never use it, because Mailchimp charges hundreds of dollars per email. This solves that problem!
I've had a creaky old announcements list on Mailchimp for years. But I never use it, because Mailchimp charges hundreds of dollars per email. This solves that problem!
Some working notes on Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot" monologue. It's one of my favourite texts, but has some issues I wanted to dig into: michaelnotebook.com/pbdredux/ind...
A few years ago, I wrote a companion piece exploring what I admire about the text: michaelnotebook.com/cosmos/index...
A few years ago, I wrote a companion piece exploring what I admire about the text: michaelnotebook.com/cosmos/index...
Pale Blue Dot Redux
michaelnotebook.com
April 26, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Some working notes on Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot" monologue. It's one of my favourite texts, but has some issues I wanted to dig into: michaelnotebook.com/pbdredux/ind...
A few years ago, I wrote a companion piece exploring what I admire about the text: michaelnotebook.com/cosmos/index...
A few years ago, I wrote a companion piece exploring what I admire about the text: michaelnotebook.com/cosmos/index...
I love seeing people reading or writing papers in esoteric areas. Fashion always has a constituency and a strong machine behind it; progress depends more on what is less legible to our culture
(My fortune cookie posting is strong the last couple of days! I'll switch to more substantive things...)
(My fortune cookie posting is strong the last couple of days! I'll switch to more substantive things...)
April 25, 2025 at 6:06 PM
I love seeing people reading or writing papers in esoteric areas. Fashion always has a constituency and a strong machine behind it; progress depends more on what is less legible to our culture
(My fortune cookie posting is strong the last couple of days! I'll switch to more substantive things...)
(My fortune cookie posting is strong the last couple of days! I'll switch to more substantive things...)
One strange thing about writing is that the harder you work, the easier many people think it was to do
April 25, 2025 at 4:47 AM
One strange thing about writing is that the harder you work, the easier many people think it was to do
Still thinking about Biosphere 2
April 25, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Still thinking about Biosphere 2
What a wonderful image (the Earth eclipsing the Sun, viewed from the moon): www.space.com/the-universe... (via @andymatuschak.org )
April 24, 2025 at 4:38 PM
What a wonderful image (the Earth eclipsing the Sun, viewed from the moon): www.space.com/the-universe... (via @andymatuschak.org )
That feeling of cleaning out your inbox upon return from vacation...
April 24, 2025 at 4:22 PM
That feeling of cleaning out your inbox upon return from vacation...
Very curious to see what Quanta Books publishes: www.quantabooks.org
Illuminating Science and Math | Quanta Books
Publishing books that explore the frontiers of science and math, illuminate our quest to understand the universe, and capture the wonder of discovery, for curious readers everywhere.
www.quantabooks.org
April 24, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Very curious to see what Quanta Books publishes: www.quantabooks.org
I enjoyed this dive into the decreasing length of sentences(!!)
www.lesswrong.com/posts/xYn3CK...
www.lesswrong.com/posts/xYn3CK...
Why Have Sentence Lengths Decreased? — LessWrong
> “In the loveliest town of all, where the houses were white and high and the elms trees were green and higher than the houses, where the front yards…
www.lesswrong.com
April 24, 2025 at 2:03 PM
I enjoyed this dive into the decreasing length of sentences(!!)
www.lesswrong.com/posts/xYn3CK...
www.lesswrong.com/posts/xYn3CK...
Added the long-term Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth to: michaelnotebook.com/slow/
April 24, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Added the long-term Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth to: michaelnotebook.com/slow/