But one reason why we don't have subcultures like in the 80s anymore is probably that society as a whole has become more permissive of difference.
Conversation
A punk in 1977 was an outcast, but now you can do all sorts of things without being ejected from polite society, so the identity and community factor is much weaker, there is no 'us against them' anymore.
1
1
New advertising slogan: “Join LessWrong, it’ll be great, you’ll be despised by everyone and can share a bedroom with three other outcasts!”
(Your point seems insightful and correct :)
1
1
not sure what you guys are talking about... your implied definition of sociopath appears to have drifted enough in the 2-3 indirections here that it has no real relationship with mine
my usage is in terms of being *out* of status games and being able to program them for others
3
4
iirc, scott's self-assessment in his gloss on the gervais principle was that he was mostly clueless in that scheme, if that is accurate, any sociopath moves he might make would be unconscious/accidental
I don't know enough about him to form an assessment one way or another
1
1
as a longtime observer i'd say that things go suspiciously consistently well for scott in achieving personal and social goals, for someone who self-ids as clueless. it's a good persona but i don't buy it
1
3
a (venkat-defined) sociopath in the rationalist community would present as ____?
2
I'll defer to people who've observed the community more closely than me
For data, I'd suggest looking at the history of scandals that seem to erupt periodically out of their programs. If there's true GP-sociopaths in there, they may be outside the community proper, like Thiel
1
2
Cult-like scandal dynamics are often a sign of unstable reality distortion fields due to the sociopaths in the picture solving for something much simpler than what the kool-aid offers the insiders... classic case being promising heaven/enlightenment but actually solving for sex
1
3
Not saying that's what happens with rats, but it's the pattern of a high-dimensional false consciousness solving for something much simpler for someone on the outside leading to a fragility/impedance mismatch... stably growing orgs have matched inside/outside impedance
2
1
2 fictional examples are Rick on Rick and Morty running a miniature civilization to power his spaceship battery, and Mysterio in spider-man movie creating an elaborate illusion thing to steal Stark's VR glasses from Peter Parker... real-life versions often in politics and sales
If I end up doing a 10th anniversary 2nd edition of the ebook, I might include these notes :)
1
2
Show replies



