Nick Bostrom irked that Oxford University expected his institute to produce work that was of a standard appropriate to its position in their philosophy department
from YouKnowWhoTheFuckIAM@awful.systems to sneerclub@awful.systems on 20 Apr 2024 07:41
https://awful.systems/post/1388280

#sneerclub

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jlow@beehaw.org on 20 Apr 2024 08:59 next collapse

Philisophers have kafkaesque bureaucracy? Weird.

YouKnowWhoTheFuckIAM@awful.systems on 20 Apr 2024 09:10 next collapse

Yes, but that’s not relevant here

mawhrin@awful.systems on 22 Apr 2024 12:08 collapse

two things: one, limited bureaucracy is not only good, it’s required for an institution to thrive. second, we only have bostrom’s word on the reasons, and i wouldn’t trust the motherfucker even with grating cheese (that is other colour than white).

gerikson@awful.systems on 20 Apr 2024 09:43 collapse

Surprised they didn’t just do the agile thing and seek direct financial support from Peter Thiel.

titotal@awful.systems on 20 Apr 2024 10:49 collapse

Oxford instituted a fundraising freeze. They knew the org could have gotten oodles funding from any number of strange tech people, they disliked it so much they didn’t care.

gerikson@awful.systems on 20 Apr 2024 11:25 next collapse

I mean they could have cut ties entirely with Oxford.

YouKnowWhoTheFuckIAM@awful.systems on 20 Apr 2024 18:24 collapse

I wonder how much they disliked it and how much they felt it was just using the Oxford brand and cheapening it. Only a slight but a qualitative difference. You can pump out all the awful shit you want at Oxford, but cheapen the brand with the increasingly zany antics of your dorky club and they might at least look twice.

AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space on 20 Apr 2024 18:27 collapse

Has Oxford gone after the Scientologists calling their personality quiz the “Oxford Capacity Assessment” or something similar?

o7___o7@awful.systems on 20 Apr 2024 19:39 next collapse

That’s named after Oxford, MS, wink wink

YouKnowWhoTheFuckIAM@awful.systems on 20 Apr 2024 22:23 collapse

I would guess that their personal reach over the name is pretty limited by a number of factors, including that the town itself has quite a significant similar claim itself. “Oxford Brookes” university, for example, is not a part of Oxford the Ancient University, but it certainly helps their brand to be next door (and as far as I know it’s a perfectly fine institution as far as these things go).

The issue with the Future of Humanity Institute would be almost the other way around: that as long as it’s in-house, the university can hardly dissociate themselves from it.

dgerard@awful.systems on 21 Apr 2024 07:51 collapse

formerly Oxford Polytechnic, then universitised in 1992

maol@awful.systems on 27 Apr 2024 10:48 collapse