Rationality: From AI to Zombies

By: Eliezer Yudkowsky

Narrated by: George Thomas, Robert DeRoeck, Aaron Silverbook

Length: 49 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

What does it actually mean to be rational? Not Hollywood-style "rational", where you forsake all human feeling to embrace Cold Hard Logic. Real rationality, of the sort studied by psychologists, social scientists, and mathematicians. The kind of rationality where you make good decisions, even when it's hard; where you reason well, even in the face of massive uncertainty; where you recognize and make full use of your fuzzy intuitions and emotions, rather than trying to discard them.

In Rationality: From AI to Zombies, Eliezer Yudkowsky explains the science underlying human irrationality with a mix of fables, argumentative essays, and personal vignettes. These eye-opening accounts of how the mind works (and how, all too often, it doesn't!) are then put to the test through some genuinely difficult puzzles: computer scientists' debates about the future of artificial intelligence (AI), physicists' debates about the relationship between the quantum and classical worlds, philosophers' debates about the metaphysics of zombies and the nature of morality, and many more. In the process, Rationality: From AI to Zombies delves into the human significance of correct reasoning more deeply than you'll find in any conventional textbook on cognitive science or philosophy of mind.

A decision theorist and researcher at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, Yudkowsky published earlier drafts of his writings to the websites Overcoming Bias and Less Wrong. Rationality: From AI to Zombies compiles six volumes of Yudkowsky's essays into a single audiobook. Collectively, these sequences of linked essays serve as a rich and lively introduction to the science - and the art - of human rationality.

©2015 Machine Intelligence Research Institute (P)2015 Machine Intelligence Research Institute

Great content. Some chapters should be re-recorded.

Start with the positive: the content is amazing, and perhaps life-changing if you aren’t already familiar with Yudkowski and rationalism. It is wide-ranging without being rambling. The ideas will break your brain.

And now the downsides. Some chapters were totally inaudible, as if the narrator was talking into a cheap webcam mic from across the room. Other chapters had decent audio quality but the narrator was so unfamiliar with the material that they mispronounced or flubbed key words and phrases. I get that it’s hard to narrate a nearly 50-hour anthology, but this is some low quality work.

Ultimately I wish this would get tightened up and organized into a true book — a bible of rationality — rather than a giant collection of thematically-connected thoughts. Trim some redundant bits, add connecting material, and take the audio recording process a bit more seriously.

12 of 12 people found this review helpful

One of my top three books ever, maybe number one.

Stop thinking until you've read this. Incredibly important book for everyone, especially, but not just, AI researchers.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

Must read, for those who are ready.

This is a long and winding book covering many topics with the obvious theme of being more rational as a human despite our flawed machinery of cognition.

If you don't know Yudkowski (I didn't) I would recommend kicking around on the Less Wrong website to get familiar with his style and theme. This book is not right for everyone.

This is NOT a good introduction to the topic. Its math heavy in parts. It rattles the very foundations of your belief system in others and, oh yeah, it's 50 hours long.

That said, if you got here because you are engaged in the life long business of ridding yourself of flawed thinking and have read considerable then I would HIGHLY recommend it.

A background in AI, heuristics and biases, basic philosophy, and familiarity with Beyes Theorem would help a lot. I didn't really have the tools to fully understand it. But I still gained a lot.

A willingness to rethink your most cherished beliefs is probably the strongest prerequisite. If you're not in possession of that trait, don't waste your time.

For me, it's fair to call the book life altering and believe that it has strongly affected the way my life will turn out. It made me rethink quite a few things. That's good. Because, as Eliezer is fond of saying "that which can be destroyed by the truth, should be".

Reading this will definitely red pill you if you are ready.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Excellent content, amateur narration

The main narrator was excellent, and reads the majority of the chapters but the other narrators were quiet, muffled, and background noises could be heard

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A must read

if you have any interest in AI or rationality then you should read Eliezer. He is amazing.

great

great mind shake up. this seems to have influenced me a lot in terms of outlook on religion, ai and intelligence

Godel, Esher, Bach for 2000s.

Well read by main narrator, but secondary narrators should do again. Could do with editing, and could be more sussinct.

Interesting read. Narration quality varies.

"Rationality" is a very interesting text with useful insights and important problems to think about.

For a few chapters you should still have the website in front of you, since they contain formulas and/or figures.

At least one of the narrators is very good, but not all of them are.

Great primer on Rationality

Was much shorter than anticipated, and was really useful for getting up to speed enough to participate in events held by the Cambridge-area Rationality community.

Long but worth it

I think I understood about 70% of the book but it was enough to make me feel like I have super powers.

For the most part, I found the book highly accessible, largely entertaining and extremely useful.

Would recommend it to anyone who wants to know how to use their mind more effectively.