…if they’re so afraid of ostracization and having people be mad at them, why do they keep blogging, especially about politics? When they blog about quantum computing or psychopharmacology, they don’t get half the engagement they get when they rant about SJWs. A huge chunk of their audience solely goes to their blogs to discuss weird far-right politics, they know people come to their blogs to discuss weird far-right politics, and they know people on the left are mad at them because they attract far-right weirdos. It is also obvious that all this online stuff ends up making them very anxious - why not just log off then?
Many people enjoy status, influence and attention. Many of these same people also do not want the responsibility or challenges that come with it.
Alexander is well aware of all the implications and is preaching the good message to all who will hear (like Johann Strauss or whatever, I’m not into waltz). As far as I can tell anyway. I’m way past any benefit of the doubt for the guy and it took me a while to get there.
Aaronson, again as far as had been able to determine, was just an incredibly fucking cluleless guy prone to double down over and over and blow shit out of proportion. Until the previous post. Well, I don’t know anymore to be honest. Maybe he snapped. I also got the impression his commentors were on average slightly more literate and less outright fascist but again not sure what to think anymore.
I thought this was going to be a link to someone discussing Scottish independence for a moment.
I think they are a bit drunk on celebrity to be honest, though they probably don’t think of it like that. Also once you take anything like a “bothsidesist” position, it becomes very difficult to draw the line in your comment section. I find it rather sad to see Scott Aa go down that way, he really is a brilliant computer scientist. I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by the internet.
Looks like the standard “I am being silenced for my controversial views!” bullshit (from people who get almost all of their views for their controversial shit).
A lot more people, namely their readers, praise and encourage them than ostracize them. If flat-earth theory had such an enthusiastic online counterculture as American far-right politics (and it’s headed in that direction), then someone who writes an off-topic blog where they occasionally air grievances about the unfairness and condescension and hypocrisy of round-earthers toward flat-earthers (while mentioning that of course they themselves are round-earthers, just like all their readers, so they’re not even going to bother writing in support of that view) will build a soup kitchen for trolls, where flat-earthers and centrist both-sidesers come together for the cHaRiTaBlE discussion of that topic that they can’t have elsewhere (round-earthers will see it for what it is and not waste their time), and if they keep following the path of least resistance and greatest immediate reward, eventually they’ll find themselves in a place where they’re worried that their IRL day-job colleagues and clients will discover their hobby is running the world’s most highbrow, presentable online bastion of the flat-earth movement.
Isn’t this why /r/TheMotte was split from /r/slatestarcodex?
it’s crocodile tears. they actually love being sneered at because they know their far-right audience gets more galvanized and violent
If the weird rationalist right had their way, they’d be able to shoot their critics because making them feel not smart is persecution and will prevent the development of a merciful AGI, making it a moral imperative to silence and exile those who poke fun at them.
The main thing you have to understand about Rationalists are that they’re all Jocks. They just want to talk and talk and be the most popular kid in school. That’s why they get so upset when a nerdy Marxist proves them wrong. It’s all about popularity and appearance. They wont log off for the same reason another Jock wouldn’t quit the football team.
that’s your answer right there
They’re not actually afraid of being ostracized. They fetishize civility and Rational Discourse(TM) so much they seem reasonable even to moderates, and their loyal fans dogpile anyone who tries to speak up for actual human rights.
They have absolutely nothing to be afraid of, and if they can’t see that, they’re not the oh-so-logical thinkers they love to tout themselves as
What do you mean by “Scotts”? I’m guessing it has to do with Scott Alexander and SSC rather than the country of Scotland.