Good article! Regarding question two ("was the article misrepresenting SA/the rationalists"), a bit of the misunderstanding is cultural, I think. The NYT artic

Good article! Regarding question two ("was the article misrepresenting SA/the rationalists"), a bit of the misunderstanding is cultural, I think. The NYT article makes heavy use of (what seems to be) guilt by association, i.e. he is in the same scene as "known bad" Peter Thiel etc.. While this is an accepted argument in some circles, it is frowned upon a lot in the rationalist community and seen as cheap smear. I think this is a major point on why opinions diverge on the article and why it is seen as malicious by so many people.