The post doesn’t spend much of its time making specific criticisms because specific criticism of this patronage system would indict OP for attempting to participate in it. This hampers its readability.
I’ll just post a twitter thread here that I wrote in response to criticism. Maybe this will clarify my goals/intentions
I want “nerds” to realize that we are not above performative attention-seeking behavior, that we can really easily slip into a failure mode of “write a blog post that embraces some high-minded ideal that no one disagrees with and then propose some law/policy/program that will supposedly increase this thing and then pat yourself on the back and move on”. I wanted to expose my own emotions and insecurities around really caring about science/progress/altruism/etc. while also really wanting people to read and praise my writing because I think other people struggle with this too. I want people reflect on the fact that writing =/= thinking and if you aren’t careful it’s easy to forget that. I wanted people to consider that explicitly trying to be innovative, creative, or smart might not work as well being as earnest as possible in your pursuit of curiosity, love, beauty, etc and that internet/social media can make it really hard to be earnest in your intellectual pursuits. I also just wanted to entertain and make people laugh; of course I was making arguments but I also view this essay as art (pretentious, I know)– I want people to know it’s okay to do both, not everything has to be a Very Serious Essay That Convinces You of Something. In fact, I would argue that there is a dearth of aesthetic sensibilities in the science/progress/EA space and that we all might benefit from a little more style, emotion, beauty, and humor.
The post doesn’t spend much of its time making specific criticisms because specific criticism of this patronage system would indict OP for attempting to participate in it. This hampers its readability.
I’ll just post a twitter thread here that I wrote in response to criticism. Maybe this will clarify my goals/intentions
I want “nerds” to realize that we are not above performative attention-seeking behavior, that we can really easily slip into a failure mode of “write a blog post that embraces some high-minded ideal that no one disagrees with and then propose some law/policy/program that will supposedly increase this thing and then pat yourself on the back and move on”. I wanted to expose my own emotions and insecurities around really caring about science/progress/altruism/etc. while also really wanting people to read and praise my writing because I think other people struggle with this too. I want people reflect on the fact that writing =/= thinking and if you aren’t careful it’s easy to forget that. I wanted people to consider that explicitly trying to be innovative, creative, or smart might not work as well being as earnest as possible in your pursuit of curiosity, love, beauty, etc and that internet/social media can make it really hard to be earnest in your intellectual pursuits. I also just wanted to entertain and make people laugh; of course I was making arguments but I also view this essay as art (pretentious, I know)– I want people to know it’s okay to do both, not everything has to be a Very Serious Essay That Convinces You of Something. In fact, I would argue that there is a dearth of aesthetic sensibilities in the science/progress/EA space and that we all might benefit from a little more style, emotion, beauty, and humor.