Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

There are plenty of examples of very intelligent individuals which used it for evil.

For example the leader of the 9/11 hijackers, Mohamed Atta:

> “His acquaintances from . . . [Technische Universität Hamburg–Harburg] still cannot reconcile him as a killer, but in hindsight the raw ingredients of his personality suggest some clues. He was meticulous, disciplined and highly intelligent” (Yardley, 2001).



selection bias. he is famous only because unusually for killers he carried out a slightly mechanicly sophisticated plan.

Killers could be much much more effective than they are, if they were smart. They tend not to be. It's a very strong trend. So much so that the few examples like the unabomber are famous. For every unabomber there are tens of thousands of similar people who don't kill people, and even the unabomber had an ethics.

(maybe the unabomber is a good warning to alignment people about the dangers of moral concern)




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: