It’s simple. “You” (the rationalist community) are selected for being bad at making wisdom saving throws, so to speak.
You know, let’s look at Yudkowsky, with all of his very public, very obvious character dysfunction and go “yes, this is the father figure/Pope I need to change my life.”
The only surprise here is the type of stuff you are agonizing about didn’t happen earlier, and isn’t happening more often.
It doesn’t have to be mysterious wisdom. You can learn about cults. The main thing to learn is that cult dynamics aren’t all top down. It takes followers to make a cult, and sometimes it only takes followers.
It’s simple. “You” (the rationalist community) are selected for being bad at making wisdom saving throws, so to speak.
You know, let’s look at Yudkowsky, with all of his very public, very obvious character dysfunction and go “yes, this is the father figure/Pope I need to change my life.”
The only surprise here is the type of stuff you are agonizing about didn’t happen earlier, and isn’t happening more often.
People better at making wisdom saving throws may be less visible.
FTX wasn’t the only rationalist business; Zizians aren’t the only (ex-?) rationalist subgroup; etc.
It doesn’t have to be mysterious wisdom. You can learn about cults. The main thing to learn is that cult dynamics aren’t all top down. It takes followers to make a cult, and sometimes it only takes followers.