Is there a safe way to ask dumb or potentially infohazardous questions?
If you're not an expert in a field and are unsure whether your question could be
hazardous or not, where do you go?
Perhaps I am being too security minded, but I feel like typing questions into a
search engine or chatbot or publicly posting does not always seem like a good
idea.
I often sit on questions or ideas related to potential threats. I have no idea
whether or not my questions/ thoughts are really dumb or whether some might be
useful to existing efforts. I wonder if others experience this as well. Some of
my thoughts or questions have been in relation to AI, supply chains, computer
science, energy utilization, infrastructure (by location and by industry),
intersectional risk (e.g. climate, nuclear, +), blockchain, telecommunication,
hardware, natural resources, security (infosecurity, cybersecurity, hardware
security, etc.), electronics (big and small), public messaging/communication/PR.
I would really appreciate advice. If others have similar concerns, please upvote
or pipe in, as it's possible that this is a problem that gets in the way with
working on important problems and potentially could be turned into an
opportunity.
This area of work focuses on managing biological risks and preparing humanity for possible future pandemics.