Listen, I get the basis of Sneer Club. The whole thing these people are doing is absolutely thinly veiled white supremacist accelerationism. They have to a tee ended up with the unabomber’s philosopher, added in nothing more intelligent than the Tic Tac Toe sequence of War Games, and started a shitty little cult. I think the world cares less about what they do than what even Steven Pinker does.
But I have to admit a basic percentage of my hatred toward them will always be jealousy. Why? Because it is clear to me that everything in terms of society and community has been irreparably shattered by capitalism and libertarianism, alienation and commodification, until what’s left is that the closest thing you could ever, ever get to a family in terms of spending time with people you love is a start-up company. Yes, I’ve got the COVID blues and I’m sort of saying the Devil won. But humor me here and let me go a little goth.
I’m bitter that for whatever years these delusional pretentious shits get the whole shebang: religion, prayer, parent figures, practically arranged marriages, and they never really toil, completely and utterly spoiled. They spend the whole time just vibe-fucking each other and believing they are the chosen few Top Mormons. They live their lives as if they are on the verge of inventing fully immersive Augmented Reality glasses when they haven’t so much as improved the flavor of Cheez Whiz. They perpetually reinvent the basics of philosophy and political science and for no reason give it a new word - just to get high off their own fucking fumes again.
I’m just saying that as a fucking delusion, it seems desirable. I can see why people are willing to go quasi-psychotic for it, and every time I read the monologues of people who left, I always think, yeah, but you would’ve stabbed an innocent in an alley if it kept the whole delusion going, wouldn’t you?
The part of myself I see in them makes me sickest of all.
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First, tag serious posts as nsfw
Second, some delusions are worse than others, but all are essentially bad. Waxing poetic about the pleasures of rationalism is a bit like waxing poetic about the pleasures of being stabbed vis a vis being shot.
Third, don’t think the rationalists are much happier than the average bear. I can’t speak for every member of the rationalist community, but when I read Siskind, Aaronson, and Yudkowsky, I don’t see happy people. They often seem defensive, insecure, and angry, no matter how much money they have.–The bay area rationalist community as a whole has some serious downsides. While the bay area is beautiful, it’s also crowded and expensive. You can make an awful lot of money and still barely scrape by. (You are not correct to say they don’t work hard. Maybe Yudkowsky is so well-funded he can watch anime all day, but most people aren’t Yudkowsky. He requires an entire ecosystem of normal people to support him.) There’s also a number of cults, predators, and abusers in the community. Read, for instance, Ziz’s account of emotional abuse by Anna Salomon, in “Net Negative”. Similarly read the postmortem for “Dragon Army”, and do a search here for “suicide” and “sexual misconduct”. There’s bad shit going down.
Fourth, and finally, you can get all the best parts of rationalism without being a rationalist. If you want the sublimity of religion literally take a hike and enjoy nature. If you want close bonds with people get off the internet and bond with people. Etc.
It sounds like you are going through a rough patch, friend. I hope things improve. Be well.
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I’m more jealous of Ted than the sneerees. At least he had the focus to complete a project.
edit: my undone and unbegun projects are in minecraft
hey yall i dont normally read reddit anymore and was a little on the suicidal side when i wrote this. remember to get out and see people, exercise and drink water. I am doing that today and feel better. Sorry if I don’t read anyone’s responses but I think the internet was a mistake. best of luck all
I get insular wealthy smarty-pants subculture envy. I grew up with the provincial autodidact’s fantasy of being adopted by a secretive intellectual elite. But there’s a damned good novel that explores the dynamic in question - it’s called The Secret History and the plot features multiple gruesome murders.
I think the majority of sneerers are here for some catharsis after feeling the sting of disillusionment. Rationalists and effective altruists told us they were literally going to save the world; to say they over-promised and under-delivered is an understatement. They deserve thorough, granular mockery.
You do realize they’re not actually happy right? The rationalists and their capitalist fellow travelers are fucking furious that they won and the world is still shit, and they can’t ever come to admit that there’s something wrong with their ideology. That’s why they have to push out and attack others, if they sit still too long they’ll be consumed by that gnawing emptiness in their souls.
Also, their community is rumored to have several active sexual predators, which is obviously bad for their quality of life.
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Honestly, some of what I’ve seen of the rationalist community seems like a particularly lousy coping strategy–for instance, convincing themselves that they’ll get resurrected by AI god, and those simulations are totally them, honest. I’m not very jealous of that. It seems like they can’t deal with the real world, and so make up some bullshit (“AI go FOOM! We’ll abolish death! Everything is getting better! In the future, humans will span the stars and last until the heat death of the universe!”).
That comparison is pretty unfair to Ted
Rationalists may be silly but they’re not the Unabomber…you can tell by the lack of mail bombs.
Your view of who rationalists are (and how happy they are) seems quite distorted.
IDK, just like with most cults most followers are not very well off. Ziz’s semi-homeless disciples don’t seem to be doing well at all, for instance.
Our society is like a heavily sedated late stage dementia patient in a hospice. It is conceptually appropriate to see such behaviors as those of dying braincells.
I dont fucking understand this subreddit lol
What did I just read ?
Happiness is a cultural myth anyways. I wouldn’t worry about it. You’re only supposed to be happy now and then, and it’s very fleeting. So enjoy it when it comes.
ROFL to
(except their ambitions are even greater than inventing some piece of cool tech; they think they are going to put a bridle on god)
I think you’ve touched on something. I wouldn’t call it envy exactly but yeah, these people are aspie-nerds who despite their psychological deficiencies have built themselves a supportive little community and that is really one of the best things to have in life, I am kind of envious of that. It’s a nice life if you can buy the ideology.
That’s the thing about these cults for middle-class educated people (see also: Rajneeshis), they do have attractive features, that’s how they grow themselves.
Wait what’s the mormom thing about? These peeps are Mormon?
I’m honestly envious of people that can be so confident while being wrong. I couch almost all my language in “maybes” and “almosts” constantly, and also fawn if I’m talked to in a mildly stern voice.
they aren’t, broadly, that successful. peter thiel only has so many toes to suck. the rest are just your average big brain redditors who melt down whenever they see a black person in a video game