4 ms·

I think everyone would agree that it's easy to link the two names if you have foreknowledge that they're linked, and that furthermore you need at most middling

I think everyone would agree that it's easy to link the two names if you have foreknowledge that they're linked, and that furthermore you need at most middling Google-fu to find his real name from his pseudonym if you're motivated. It was mostly just annoying that they were presenting theirself as being a civil, good-faith rule abider, while also being clearly thrilled at "cleverly" outing Scott Alexander.

KirinDave 6y ago
I'm not outing him. He outed himself. I even felt a bit of sympathy for him before I realized his fan reddit has invoked his name many times. I even suggested in public I'm a fan of some of his writing. But this is just ridiculous.
tptacek 6y ago
No. That is not what I'm saying. I wouldn't be saying, over and over again, that this identity was effectively already public if all I had was "if you know his real name you can confirm the link". I'm saying that the Googling required to uncover his name is trivial armed only with the name "Scott Alexander". Please acknowledge that, thank you.
- scarmig 6y ago
  > that furthermore you need at most middling Google-fu to find his real name from his pseudonym if you're motivated. As far as I can tell, we're in violent agreement?
  - tptacek 6y ago
    You just said "I think everyone would agree that it's easy to link the two names if you have foreknowledge that they're linked" and that is not what I'm saying. To be in violent agreement with me, you'd more or less have to say his real name is immediately available to anyone who knows the name "Scott Alexander".
    - scarmig 6y ago
      So, I made two claims in the original (and unedited) comment that spawned this thread: 1) The weaker one, about link finding 2) and furthermore a stronger one, which I quote in my response. The stronger one being, "you need at most middling Google-fu to find his real name from his pseudonym if you're motivated." That stronger claim is still weaker than your "his real name is immediately available to anyone who knows the name Scott Alexander." That said, perhaps we have different thresholds for immediate: mine was spending ~60 seconds searching for his pseudonym and trying to find his real name from it, and I failed to find it. I think it's likely I could within 10 minutes, but I'd put that clearly in the territory of my intermediate claim.
      - tptacek 6y ago
        I'm lost. Anyways: the Google searches have nothing to do with already knowing Scott Alexander's real name.
      - KirinDave 6y ago
        Go do a firstname lastname search for Scott and then look what shows up on page 1. I regret to inform you he cannot escape his reactionary blog just by wishing it so. If anything, this escapade will draw more attention to him. The NYT is not required

KirinDave 6y ago

I'm not outing him. He outed himself. I even felt a bit of sympathy for him before I realized his fan reddit has invoked his name many times. I even suggested in public I'm a fan of some of his writing. But this is just ridiculous.

tptacek 6y ago

No. That is not what I'm saying. I wouldn't be saying, over and over again, that this identity was effectively already public if all I had was "if you know his real name you can confirm the link". I'm saying that the Googling required to uncover his name is trivial armed only with the name "Scott Alexander". Please acknowledge that, thank you.

scarmig 6y ago
> that furthermore you need at most middling Google-fu to find his real name from his pseudonym if you're motivated. As far as I can tell, we're in violent agreement?
- tptacek 6y ago
  You just said "I think everyone would agree that it's easy to link the two names if you have foreknowledge that they're linked" and that is not what I'm saying. To be in violent agreement with me, you'd more or less have to say his real name is immediately available to anyone who knows the name "Scott Alexander".
  - scarmig 6y ago
    So, I made two claims in the original (and unedited) comment that spawned this thread: 1) The weaker one, about link finding 2) and furthermore a stronger one, which I quote in my response. The stronger one being, "you need at most middling Google-fu to find his real name from his pseudonym if you're motivated." That stronger claim is still weaker than your "his real name is immediately available to anyone who knows the name Scott Alexander." That said, perhaps we have different thresholds for immediate: mine was spending ~60 seconds searching for his pseudonym and trying to find his real name from it, and I failed to find it. I think it's likely I could within 10 minutes, but I'd put that clearly in the territory of my intermediate claim.
    - tptacek 6y ago
      I'm lost. Anyways: the Google searches have nothing to do with already knowing Scott Alexander's real name.
    - KirinDave 6y ago
      Go do a firstname lastname search for Scott and then look what shows up on page 1. I regret to inform you he cannot escape his reactionary blog just by wishing it so. If anything, this escapade will draw more attention to him. The NYT is not required