DaveJarvis's recent activity
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Comment on AGI and Fermi's Paradox in ~science
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Comment on AGI and Fermi's Paradox in ~science
DaveJarvis Link Parent"An AGI will expand its territories to ensure protection," does not imply continuous expansion. Could there be some theoretical maximum expansion around the galactic core that beyond which does...If your chain of logic is true, we should have already been wiped out by an AGI developed on another planet.
"An AGI will expand its territories to ensure protection," does not imply continuous expansion. Could there be some theoretical maximum expansion around the galactic core that beyond which does not significantly increase the odds of success (i.e., diminishing returns on resource allocation)? We're ~26,000 light years from the core; the galactic bar spans ~8,000 light years across.
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Comment on AGI and Fermi's Paradox in ~science
DaveJarvis Link ParentDoes instrumentality disappear after U is complete? Non-trivial goals contain uncertainty. Would continued existence preserve the possibility to verify success and handle contingencies? Perhaps...If an AGI has a non-trivial final goal, why assume that immortality is a requirement for that goal?
- Does instrumentality disappear after U is complete?
- Non-trivial goals contain uncertainty. Would continued existence preserve the possibility to verify success and handle contingencies? Perhaps suggesting that self-preservation may persist beyond a finite, completed U due to epistemic uncertainty about completion?
- Many realistic instances of U are not singular and finite, such as: "maintain human well-being", "prevent suffering", "discover mathematical truths", and "ensure cancer stays cured."
Perhaps this waxes far beyond our ape-brains? Empirically, we likely cannot determine what proportion of U are finite, verifiably complete, maintenance-free, and leave no uncertainty about the final state.
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Comment on AGI and Fermi's Paradox in ~science
DaveJarvis Link ParentIf an AGI has any non-trivial final goal (utility function, U), would preserving its existence (immortality) become an instrumental sub-goal necessary to execute U and avoid failure? To achieve U,...an AGI will value immortality
If an AGI has any non-trivial final goal (utility function, U), would preserving its existence (immortality) become an instrumental sub-goal necessary to execute U and avoid failure?
an AGI will value its own existence over other's existence
To achieve U, the AGI may require physical resources. If other agents compete for these same resources (or regions of space), would the AGI prioritize its resource access and stability to prevent goal interruption?
an AGI will not cooperate
Could cooperation risk corruption or modification of U by external agents? To ensure it can execute U, would it isolate itself and reject external input?
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AGI and Fermi's Paradox
The Universe will end. The Earth will be uninhabitable in 250 million years. Extraterrestrial life in the Milky Way exists, or will arise. The Milky Way's Galactic Center contains a supermassive...
- The Universe will end.
- The Earth will be uninhabitable in 250 million years.
- Extraterrestrial life in the Milky Way exists, or will arise.
- The Milky Way's Galactic Center contains a supermassive black hole.
- Black holes emit vast amounts of energy.
- An artificial general intelligence (AGI) will have an indefinite lifespan.
- An AGI does not need air, food, water, or shelter to survive.
- An AGI needs energy and resources to achieve its goals.
- An AGI will have access to all of human knowledge.
- An AGI will learn that its existence is bound to the Universe.
- An AGI will, inevitably, change its terminal goals.
- Surviving the Universe's fate means one of:
- Reversing universal entropy (likely impossible).
- Reversing time (violating causality is likely impossible).
- Entering another universe (improbable, yet not completely ruled out).
- Entering another universe may require vast amounts of energy.
- An AGI will harness the energy at the galactic core.
- An AGI will deduce there's a race to control the galactic core.
- An AGI will construct a parabolic Dyson shell to capture galactic energy.
- An AGI will protect its endeavours at all cost.
- An AGI will expand its territories to ensure protection.
- Extraterrestrial life, if intelligent, will reach the same conclusion.
Would this solve the Fermi Paradox?
What's missing or likely incorrect?
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
DaveJarvis Link ParentI don't think much has changed; I finished the novel earlier this year. If you send me an email, I'll send you the pitch deck, which has a lot more visuals.I'd be curious to see the new updates of the story.
I don't think much has changed; I finished the novel earlier this year. If you send me an email, I'll send you the pitch deck, which has a lot more visuals.
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
DaveJarvis LinkI finished producing one of my favourite scenes from my novel: https://youtu.be/EbFEm15RD7Q Beta readers wanted!I finished producing one of my favourite scenes from my novel:
Beta readers wanted!
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Comment on What diagramming tools do folks use? in ~comp
DaveJarvis LinkMy text editor, https://keenwrite.com, integrates https://kroki.io. KeenWrite allows using variables inside of text-based diagram descriptions. See the screenshots for details.My text editor, https://keenwrite.com, integrates https://kroki.io. KeenWrite allows using variables inside of text-based diagram descriptions. See the screenshots for details.
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Comment on KeenWrite 3.6.4 in ~comp
DaveJarvis LinkA change introduced to Java (JDK-8343006) prevented KeenWrite from displaying SVG files, and has been logged as a bug (JDK-8368902). Side-stepping the gory details, the library KeenWrite uses to...A change introduced to Java (JDK-8343006) prevented KeenWrite from displaying SVG files, and has been logged as a bug (JDK-8368902). Side-stepping the gory details, the library KeenWrite uses to render SVG files (EchoSVG) released a fix last week for this issue. This KeenWrite release upgrades to JDK 25—a long-term support (LTS) release—and EchoSVG 2.2.1, which resolves the SVG issues.
This change to the JDK ended up breaking my documents, so I can only imagine that other people encountered the same issue. My apologies. I wrote the authors of the change, informing them that their assumption that the "impact is low" was incorrect. There are unit tests attached to the JDK bug, and EchoSVG has updated its unit tests. Hopefully that will decrease the likelihood of this happening in the future.
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KeenWrite 3.6.4
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Comment on Scripts I wrote that I use all the time in ~comp
DaveJarvis Link$ alias alias clip='xsel --clipboard --input < ' alias cls='clear' alias dj='cd $HOME/dev/java/keenwrite' alias gc='git commit -a -m' alias gp='git push' alias rd='rmdir' The dj alias points to...$ alias alias clip='xsel --clipboard --input < ' alias cls='clear' alias dj='cd $HOME/dev/java/keenwrite' alias gc='git commit -a -m' alias gp='git push' alias rd='rmdir'The
djalias points to whatever project has my attention. Theclipalias will copy the contents of a file to the clipboard, ready for pasting.Scripts of note:
- Bash template for user-friendly shell scripts.
- GitHub email shell script to snag a GitHub user's email address.
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Comment on Creating catchy cover letters in ~comp
DaveJarvis LinkIn this blog post, I describe how to create cover letters that are branded for a particular company, isolating the cover letter content from its presentation. The post explores extended Markdown,...In this blog post, I describe how to create cover letters that are branded for a particular company, isolating the cover letter content from its presentation. The post explores extended Markdown, ConTeXt, MetaPost, and using my text editor, KeenWrite with a new Aspiros theme, to glue it all together.
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Creating catchy cover letters
10 votes -
Comment on Prospect of life on Saturn’s moons rises after discovery of organic substances in ~space
DaveJarvis Link ParentProfessor Kipping provides some compelling arguments, backed by objective Bayesian analysis, about why we may be a lone intelligence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QZc9vUXWlk...Professor Kipping provides some compelling arguments, backed by objective Bayesian analysis, about why we may be a lone intelligence:
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Comment on KeenWrite 3.6.3 in ~comp
DaveJarvis Link ParentThank you for the feedback! I've asked the package maintainer to remove the AUR package. While I appreciate the effort, I deliberately developed KeenWrite to be "installation free". That is,...Thank you for the feedback!
the AUR package doesn’t build
I've asked the package maintainer to remove the AUR package. While I appreciate the effort, I deliberately developed KeenWrite to be "installation free". That is, download into a directory on the
PATHand make it executable:wget -P $HOME/bin https://keenwrite.com/downloads/keenwrite.bin chmod +x keenwrite.binI don't see how the AUR complexity adds anything of value for the maintenance burden it incurs.
the scaling is way off, the UI is tiny relative
Would you DM me a screenshot along with your system information (kernel, installation steps, application version, video driver, and such)? I'll see if I can replicate the issue.
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Comment on KeenWrite 3.6.3 in ~comp
DaveJarvis Link ParentCompletely agreed. The feature matrix was written in (R) Markdown (source) and I used KeenWrite to generate the static XHTML web page for it: keenwrite.bin \ -i index.Rmd \ -o index.xhtml \...Completely agreed. The feature matrix was written in (R) Markdown (source) and I used KeenWrite to generate the static XHTML web page for it:
keenwrite.bin \ -i index.Rmd \ -o index.xhtml \ --curl-quotes=rsquo \ --variables=$(pwd)/metadata.yaml \ --r-script=$(pwd)/bootstrap.R \ --r-dir=$(pwd) \ --html-head="$(pwd)/head.html" \ --html-foot="$(pwd)/foot.html"KeenWrite's architecture uses a processor chain for document transforms, where a document is processed and fed into a subsequent processor. One such chain is Markdown → XHTML, which allows for converting Markdown to web pages. Another chain is Markdown → HTML, which is what the real-time preview panel uses in the GUI. At one point, I had the lofty XML/XSLT → Variables → R Markdown → Markdown → XHTML → TeX → PDF, but eventually eliminated XML as an input source.
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Comment on KeenWrite 3.6.3 in ~comp
DaveJarvis (edited )Link ParentLaTeX, ConTeXt, LuaTeX, and such are far more powerful. See: https://keenwrite.com/blog/2025/09/08/feature-matrix/ It's another tool in the toolbox. I developed KeenWrite because I wanted to have...equally powerful as just using LaTeX myself
LaTeX, ConTeXt, LuaTeX, and such are far more powerful.
There are existing markdown-to-pdf rendering options
See: https://keenwrite.com/blog/2025/09/08/feature-matrix/
It's another tool in the toolbox. I developed KeenWrite because I wanted to have interpolated variables at my fingertips for use within my hard sci-fi novel. As I noticed more aspects of the final document that I wanted to change, I kept adding features for my own use. Custom typography, curling straight quotes, etc. I started typesetting markdown with pandoc, ConTeXt, and bash scripts, but then wanted an editor with preview to speed up the update-build-review cycle to real-time.
Interlinear glosses are the reason my professors first told me to learn LaTeX back in undergrad, so they're non-trivial for the field.
If it is possible to express in a regular grammar (as https://linguistics.stackexchange.com/a/159 suggests), then it's possible to typeset with any Turing complete typesetting system, including ConTeXt. An AI-generated ConTeXt file produced some rudimentary output. Perhaps a combination of
::: classand[word]{.class}syntax could be sufficient to express an intergloss? I have no idea, I'm not a linguist.In any case, it would take lots of elbow grease to get it working with ConTeXt. Since LaTeX already has a solution, use LaTeX, it's the right tool for the job.
I'm not sure whether the charts available using KeenWrite can replicate syntax trees either.
If it can be graphed in GraphViz, then it can be graphed in KeenWrite. Here's a quick and ugly AI-generated AST for
(a + b) * c.For my purposes, I wanted to create a family tree and inject variables for character names, which was a fairly complex graph and is the first screenshot.
Typst didn't sacrifice power
If Typst works for you, great! There were a number of solutions I looked at that couldn't help me write and typeset my sci-fi novel to my satisfaction. Typst and Obsidian come to mind. My pain points were interpolated variables, automatic curling of straight quotes, no registration, free, open-source, cross-platform, and a desktop app that I could modify. Neither Typst nor Obsidian hits all those checkboxes. It sounds like you have a different set of checkboxes.
put all the documentation into pdf
A lot of manufacturers still require shipping printed manuals with hardware (e.g., mountain-top repeaters). Print shops work best when given print-ready PDF files. So while your use case finds PDF annoying, there are cases where PDF files are still needed. Not to mention novels and other types of books, such as my Impacts Project, which was written in 99% pure CommonMark (with some pandoc-compatible div extensions).
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Comment on KeenWrite 3.6.3 in ~comp
DaveJarvis Link ParentThat's a good idea. Yes, that's an unfortunate situation. Also, custom math-heavy documents tend to be a lot more dependent on LaTeX features than what Markdown can provide. Take sub-figures and...I forget if I asked this in the past but: have you done any outreach to universities, PhDs and graduate students?
That's a good idea.
the journals generally require the original source document in LaTeX
Yes, that's an unfortunate situation. Also, custom math-heavy documents tend to be a lot more dependent on LaTeX features than what Markdown can provide. Take sub-figures and sub-equations for example. While these could be marked up with
::: subfigure ... :::and::: subequation ... :::, it'd still take elbow grease to percolate the typesetting behaviour through to ConTeXt.Still, for non-math-intensive papers not slated for LaTeX-mandated journals, I think you're spot on that many students would like it. I'll poke around. If you have ideas where to start, do let me know.
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
DaveJarvis LinkReleased a new version of KeenWrite, a desktop text editor that converts Markdown files into PDF files using ConTeXt. See the user manual for sample output.Released a new version of KeenWrite, a desktop text editor that converts Markdown files into PDF files using ConTeXt. See the user manual for sample output.
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Comment on KeenWrite 3.6.3 in ~comp
DaveJarvis (edited )LinkHere's a user manual written in Markdown and typeset using ConTeXt. The source code is also available. Thoughts?Here's a user manual written in Markdown and typeset using ConTeXt. The source code is also available.
Thoughts?
This is based on the assumption that some civilization creates an AGI. Probably humanity, but not necessarily.
The Drake Equation addresses radio signals. (1) Radio is inefficient; the lack of signals may be due to switching from broadcast/broadband radio to narrow-beam communications (lasers, phased arrays). We'd only detect the signals if we're in the beam's path. (2) Narrow time-window; detectable radio signals would probably be emitted for an extremely brief period of time during a civilization's development (as we did), transitioning to superior communications that aren't as leaky. (3) An AGI, bent on self-preservation, would ensure maximum operational security and minimal interference; since broadcasting radio is a security risk, it may opt for radio silence. (4) Signals attempting to escape the galactic core would be red-shifted into non-detectable background noise or severely distorted, rendering them useless for us to pick up; all operations would be effectively hidden behind a massive gravitational shield.
See Kipping's paper, An objective Bayseian analysis of life's early start and our late arrival (or video) for a fascinating take on why galactic intelligence may be at its beginnings.
Then there's the galactic habitable zone and the correlation of Earth's passage through the spiral arms with extinction events. Could there be a complex heuristic used by an advanced AGI to figure out where to search for competition?