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> Even many people who see themselves as rational arbiters of information I don't think this is the default mode for most people. It wouldn't even make much se
by the_af 1y ago
> Even many people who see themselves as rational arbiters of information
I don't think this is the default mode for most people. It wouldn't even make much sense.
Some professionals, in some contexts, some of the time can act as rational arbiters of information. But not most of the time, nor in most contexts. That way only leads to these cultish sites like LessWrong, full to the brim of self-appointed rationalists holding the freakiest, most irrational beliefs (one of them being that they are "less wrong").
- Aurornis 1y agoThat’s what I was saying: People who see themselves as being extra-rational are often the same ones outsourcing their thinking to personalities they follow. Your example of LessWrong is perfect because the “rationalist” community is, ironically, home to a lot of irrational beliefs deeply held. I think their desire to feel like they’re going back to first principles and entertaining alternate theories leaves them especially vulnerable to people who know how to write prose that fits the rationalist mold. That’s why you see the “rationalists” getting involved with people like Moldbug, Curtis Yarvin, and other reactionaries.