I’m known by the pseudonym “ersatz” on the Internet. I’m a 32-year-old Swiss citizen currently enjoying retirement in the south of France. Before that, I was Head of Engineering at a major company. I hold a master’s degree in computer science from ETH Zurich, where I also started a PhD before dropping out. I’m fluent in French, German, and English, I also have a solid grasp of Italian.
Among my hobbies, I enjoy athletics (climbing, running, weight lifting, swimming, etc.), reading (literary fiction, science fiction, fantasy, biography and autobiography, etc.), and cooking.
I started reading LessWrong when it was launched in the 2000s. Since then, I’ve considered myself to be a “spiritual” member of this tribe. I was raised Jewish but have been an atheist for as long as I can remember. Politically, I’m a moderate libertarian. My meta-ethical stance is emotivism. My P(doom|AGI by 2040) currently is 0.95.
On this blog, I plan to post quick, low-effort thoughts.