This argument seems a bit surprising coming from the author of "Understand," but I suppose it's fair to say that being able to imagine superintelligence isn't enough to justify believing in it.
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> [...] suppose a literal “country of geniuses” were to materialize somewhere in the world in ~2027. Imagine, say, 50 million people, all of whom are much more capable than any Nobel Prize winner, statesman, or technologist.
> [...] competition is a powerful tool, and while it is great that a subset of society has been using it in athletic competitions, it is a net-loss to society that we have ignored the tool in the areas that could help society the most.
> When writing, first, make the reader care, one way or another. Because if I am not hooked by the first screen, I will probably not keep reading—no matter how good the rest of it is!