I get extremely suspicious of people when I discover that there's some guy whose work they're super into and have made the foundation of their personal philosophy. I do this even if the guy is someone whose work I like, and even if they're someone I like personally.
-
Show this thread
-
(Theoretically I would also get extremely suspicious if the person whose work they were into was not a guy, but in practice the object of intellectual fixation usually seems to be a guy)
5 replies 0 retweets 25 likesShow this thread -
I've been seeing this with David Deutsch a lot recently - a lot of people are super into him and whenever I find a new one I have a very strong "Oh gods not one of you again" reaction.
6 replies 0 retweets 26 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @GeniesLoki
I agree with this re the Critical Rationalist community (with one exception who I hope knows I am subtweeting her) but am too polite to say so :) “How do I avoid starting a cult” is something I occasionally worry about but it doesn’t seem imminent yet
5 replies 0 retweets 20 likes -
Replying to @Meaningness @GeniesLoki
Do you have any ideas why cultishness hasn’t popped up around you, David? I wonder if meta-rat’ism having no fixed frame helps. CR does have this IMO, but everyone tends to interpret it as having a practical ideology that is True and Follows from the Laws of Epistemology.
4 replies 0 retweets 4 likes -
Replying to @reasonisfun @Meaningness
It's not totally clear to me that he doesn't have a cult, TBH. It's definitely a much smaller one than the number of metarats would suggest though, I think largely because metarat is only appealing after you've already got indigestion from eating a few other ideologies first.
3 replies 0 retweets 7 likes
Yes I think it can never be a very successful cult; the entrance exam takes years of preparation.
-
-
Trading quantity for quality? The cultists who have spent years preparing will be very dedicated to the cause!
0 replies 0 retweets 3 likesThanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.