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It's not just you. Lanier is mostly famous for being famous: he is an inveterate social climber which is why he has so many juicy Epstein anecdotes[0]. In my ex

It's not just you. Lanier is mostly famous for being famous: he is an inveterate social climber which is why he has so many juicy Epstein anecdotes[0]. In my experience (I used to live in Berkeley and have been to his house and otherwise in his presence a couple of times via mutual friends) he rarely knows what he's talking about. Saw him stiff two grad students on a split check as well, back when he was at SGI; couldn't believe it, and that's always how I'll remember him. He's totally right about social media of course. Sadly. It would be a simpler world if all men of bad character were also wrong, but he's right as rain on this one. [0]https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/07/jeffrey-epstein-transhumanism-cryonics https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/07/jeffrey-epstein-tran...

HugeAcumen 6y ago
In case anyone is taken in by this, here is the relevant part of the link: "Jaron Lanier, a pioneer in the field of virtual reality, told the Times that at a dinner at Epstein’s townhouse, a NASA scientist mentioned that Epstein’s goal was to impregnate 20 women at a time, having “based his idea for a baby ranch on accounts of the Repository for Germinal Choice, which was to be stocked with the sperm of Nobel laureates who wanted to strengthen the human gene pool.” Lanier said that he got the impression that Epstein used his dinner parties, where guests included “attractive women with impressive academic credentials,” to screen potential candidates to knock up, like the sociopath he is." Not exactly something an Epstein friend would point out to media. A grand total of one anecdata. And, that was in 2006, before Epstein's predilections were known. I once saw Scott Locklin smear a guy by associating him with Epstein before Lanier could possibly have known his character, even though it's clear they weren't friends. And that's how I'll always remember him.
- scottlocklin 6y ago
  He socialized with Epstein (post conviction? looks like he did![0]), ran in the same circles (publishing in that that ridiculous "Edge foundation" thing[1]) and threw him under the bus only after he was safely declared dead, apparently seeing nothing wrong with Epstein's grotesque antics as long as the spice was flowing[2]. It's not the worst thing I can say about him, and in fact isn't the worst thing I said about him above, but, well SOMEBODY is a little sensitive. I think "social climber" is a pretty accurate, even generous description for this sort of behavior. [0] https://www.edge.org/events/master-class-2011the-science-of-human-nature https://www.edge.org/events/master-class-2011the-science-of-... -and a snapshot Edge tried to remove: https://imgur.com/fVs3jSp https://imgur.com/fVs3jSp [1]https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-john-brockman-edge-foundation https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-ep... [2] https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2019/08/jeffrey-epstein-my-very-very-sick-pal/ https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2019/08/jeffrey-ep...

HugeAcumen 6y ago

In case anyone is taken in by this, here is the relevant part of the link: "Jaron Lanier, a pioneer in the field of virtual reality, told the Times that at a dinner at Epstein’s townhouse, a NASA scientist mentioned that Epstein’s goal was to impregnate 20 women at a time, having “based his idea for a baby ranch on accounts of the Repository for Germinal Choice, which was to be stocked with the sperm of Nobel laureates who wanted to strengthen the human gene pool.” Lanier said that he got the impression that Epstein used his dinner parties, where guests included “attractive women with impressive academic credentials,” to screen potential candidates to knock up, like the sociopath he is." Not exactly something an Epstein friend would point out to media. A grand total of one anecdata. And, that was in 2006, before Epstein's predilections were known. I once saw Scott Locklin smear a guy by associating him with Epstein before Lanier could possibly have known his character, even though it's clear they weren't friends. And that's how I'll always remember him.

scottlocklin 6y ago
He socialized with Epstein (post conviction? looks like he did![0]), ran in the same circles (publishing in that that ridiculous "Edge foundation" thing[1]) and threw him under the bus only after he was safely declared dead, apparently seeing nothing wrong with Epstein's grotesque antics as long as the spice was flowing[2]. It's not the worst thing I can say about him, and in fact isn't the worst thing I said about him above, but, well SOMEBODY is a little sensitive. I think "social climber" is a pretty accurate, even generous description for this sort of behavior. [0] https://www.edge.org/events/master-class-2011the-science-of-human-nature https://www.edge.org/events/master-class-2011the-science-of-... -and a snapshot Edge tried to remove: https://imgur.com/fVs3jSp https://imgur.com/fVs3jSp [1]https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-john-brockman-edge-foundation https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-ep... [2] https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2019/08/jeffrey-epstein-my-very-very-sick-pal/ https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2019/08/jeffrey-ep...