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.
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(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)
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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.
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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
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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.
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On a meta level I observe I’m definitely into
@Meaningness to an extent that cannot be healthy, but on an object-level he just seems to be right about everything idk.1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes -
Replying to @the_aiju @reasonisfun and
(Half-joking) I did go through some serious idolisation phases with other people and I think a key feature is being proven wrong often enough by your idol that you just start to assume they’re right by default.
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Replying to @the_aiju @reasonisfun and
I think good intellectual cult leaders are great at giving you some solid arguments for their position while using their confidence to handwave away any gaps in the argument. It takes a certain level of intellectual maturity to recognise this pattern and retain epist humility
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It also has to be attractive in some way, by promising a something-for-nothing internal reward (in addition to the social benefits)
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Yes, although “actually, <group> is wrong about <thing>” seems sufficient motivation quite often, especially if group=(apparent) orthodoxy...
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