No fucking way
I had no fucking idea that was the case and I really like that podcast
Which is another good reason to have me on because writing about that essay on SneerClub was one of the best things I’ve done here
Speaking of podcasts, there is also a (relatively new) and very good
podcast called Decoding
the Gurus. They do a really good job at uncovering the shtick behind
many popular internet intellectuals/influencers, i.e. gurus(in
particular, the IDW folks).
They may cover the Rationality community at some point(they have a
public Guru suggestions doc where both Scott Alexander and Eliezer
Yudkowsky have been suggested). It’d be great to see some of the
veterans of this sub (u/noactuallyitspoptart, u/dgerard etc.) talk to
them in an episode. (they have special episodes where they invite guests
with insights into the gurus they discuss: for example, they once had a
guy who had spent time in Eric Weinstein’s Discord server - Special
Episode - Entering the Portal - and it was hilarious).
I also have a decent knowledge of stuff that’s somewhat outside the SneerClub retinue because I obsess about cults since forever, so I might reach out even if they’re not into the Yud/Siskind thing
XLR desk mic setups are surprisingly affordable and convenient. I’d recommend the stuff from Behringer, plus a cheap spring arm from Neewer or similar. They’re awesome for rejecting background noise, and both affordable and convenient.
I have two laptops and 0 desktops, so my setup has to be cobbled together and easily dismantled and put out the way
the loved one has a frickin *workstation* with professional mic and it's used for gaming
I know don’t have David and Liz’s profiles, but it always galls me
that nobody’s asked me to go on one of these things - and one of those
“I Don’t Speak German” guys actually follows me on twitter already
I’ve been planning a podcast of my own with my friend Fox called “From The Hospital Bed” which is nominally about mental health problems but in which that’s basically all I plan on doing
Well (a) because I’m the charismatic one and (b) because it’s about my alcohol recovery and (c) the fact we’ve both been in hospital with with mental health issues
Just use your superior mind and speeches to convince them to wedgie themselves. After all, it is more efficient. The new subsidiary of EA, EW: Effective Wedgying.
(Hope you are doing better btw).
> How much do people think Siskind is consciously dishonestly presenting himself?
As evidenced by his warnings in the email that Topher leaked, his panic about the NYTimes linking his medicine-practicing name to his pseudoynm, and the circuitous way he approaches any topic, he knows many of his ideas are monstrously unpopular.
He believes that these ideas are unpopular because they're true. This is a common belief among strong-willed people.
However, when confronted with the idea that his ideas on eugenics and sexism are not liked by non-white people and feminists, he concluded that there were ideological or psychological traits common to them preventing them from seeing the truth. Hence "blue tribes"; hence his attempts to reinvent conflict theory from the ground-up.
He has not gone as far down the rabbit hole as Curtis Yarvin or Jordan Peterson, who have to invent conspiracies to explain why not everyone in the world understands the "obvious" fact that he understands. But he does not seem to have grappled with the fact that people loathe his most controversial ideas because those ideas, in the hands of people with material power, have always been a threat to them. Or if he has, he's done it in the privacy of his soul, not in a 10,000-word blog post. We can only judge him by what he shares with us.
> He spends enormous time agonising about what Scott Aaronson feels (or, really, what he himself feels, with Aaronson as a proxy). But he doesn't even try—like he doesn't even know it's a thing you can try—to imagine what women feel dealing with nerdy men.
This is exactly it.
> "Strong-willed people". Do you think being strong-willed is a bad thing?
Oh no, not at all. In fact, it often is the case that an unpopular idea is true. But the weird rationalist subculture has seized upon popular historical examples (Galileo, Darwin, etc) and turned it into a sort of contrarian triumphalism. It's as if positioning oneself *against* the conventional wisdom were of value in and of itself, rather than a position that the truth *accidentally, occasionally* finds itself on.
I think he’s just a sociopath, personally - or BPD or something like that. He fits the profile too well. Prickly and defensive about any kind of criticism; self-absorbed; egotistical; struggles with empathy; all that good shit.
I think he's convinced if he were honest he'd be hounded out of polite society and since impolite society would probably murder him if they ever came to power he's stuck advocating for NRx ideas without ever being able to openly embrace them.
IDSG listener here, the Reddit sub algorithm recommended this place
to me same day as I heard this. Obviously the future benevolent AI
overlord is manipulating me into ensuring it doesn’t come into
existence.
> I liked the guy's novel but there are countless better novels, some by even worse people
You're thinking of Ayn Rand, no?
> (also there was a shonen-like solipsism in there where the perfected individual is more powerful than any collective action)
You're still thinking of Ayn Rand, no?
Kinda new to this podcast (someone on the Knowledge Fight sub
suggested it). The Metzger episodes were really good, but I sat though
American History X, the Capitol Riots and this one last night, so I
spent at least 4 hours of my life listening to them complain about
Liberals. By 2AM last night I felt like my brain was melting.
Granted this one was a bit more interesting, but it’s kinda been the
same criticism I’ve heard of rationalism for years now, without much
fresh meat on the bones.
Tbf if you're already aware of rational-ism/ists there's not really going to be much new because they're not doing much new. The freakout over the article happened before the article was published, the cult, excuse me phyg, responded by becoming more phygish and secretive aka 'pay me for my drivel'.
my favourite bit of this was that IDSG literally started because of SSC’s “You Are Crying Wolf”, which I had no idea until Daniel said that
Very nice!
Speaking of podcasts, there is also a (relatively new) and very good podcast called Decoding the Gurus. They do a really good job at uncovering the shtick behind many popular internet intellectuals/influencers, i.e. gurus(in particular, the IDW folks).
They may cover the Rationality community at some point(they have a public Guru suggestions doc where both Scott Alexander and Eliezer Yudkowsky have been suggested). It’d be great to see some of the veterans of this sub (u/noactuallyitspoptart, u/dgerard etc.) talk to them in an episode. (they have special episodes where they invite guests with insights into the gurus they discuss: for example, they once had a guy who had spent time in Eric Weinstein’s Discord server - Special Episode - Entering the Portal - and it was hilarious).
I know don’t have David and Liz’s profiles, but it always galls me that nobody’s asked me to go on one of these things - and one of those “I Don’t Speak German” guys actually follows me on twitter already
[deleted]
I am appalled by the suggestion that I don’t do MCMC in my head to update my beliefs. How dare you.
IDSG listener here, the Reddit sub algorithm recommended this place to me same day as I heard this. Obviously the future benevolent AI overlord is manipulating me into ensuring it doesn’t come into existence.
How long before someone shows up as a guest and just starts speaking in German?
This was a really great episode, y’all! Well done.
pog
I liked the guy’s novel but there are countless better novels, some by even worse people
(also there was a shonen-like solipsism in there where the perfected individual is more powerful than any collective action)
I just love how SSC subreddit removed it. What happened to their commitment “free speech” and “discussing ideas”
Nice, I’m going to give this a listen later. Must have been fun to be on that podcast!
Kinda new to this podcast (someone on the Knowledge Fight sub suggested it). The Metzger episodes were really good, but I sat though American History X, the Capitol Riots and this one last night, so I spent at least 4 hours of my life listening to them complain about Liberals. By 2AM last night I felt like my brain was melting.
Granted this one was a bit more interesting, but it’s kinda been the same criticism I’ve heard of rationalism for years now, without much fresh meat on the bones.