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
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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
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a (venkat-defined) sociopath in the rationalist community would present as ____?
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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
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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
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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
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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
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If I end up doing a 10th anniversary 2nd edition of the ebook, I might include these notes :)
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if you do, i'd be curious for longer response to the "elephant in the brain" idea that in order to successfully convince others you first convince yourself. seems like a pattern many founders use, but from other thread sounds like you find it limiting. would love to read more
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didn't get too far with EITB tbf... I like kevin's essays a lot but the book didn't quite hit for me enough to finish
convincing yourself to convince others is certainly one pattern... george costanza: "it's not a lie if you believe in it" etc
It's just not the only one
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there's a dimension of this you may or may not have noticed... if the leader is *charismatic*, often what they're solving for is validation of megalomaniac self-perceptions, which is not actually the same thing as messianic spiritual direction to followers
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