There’s indeed been no one with that level of reach that has spread this much misinformation and started this many negative rumors in the space as David Gerard and RW. Whoever the second closest contender is, is likely not even close.
First place goes to David Gerard / RationalWiki—not exactly the same thing, but a huge overlap. There are also other editors on RationalWiki, but most of them are much less active and not as hostile towards the rationalist community as David. David is also the driving force behind the SneerClub, plus he edits Wikipedia, which vastly expands his possibilities (he can write a “snarky” comment on RW, have a journalist quote it, then he can quote the journalist in Wikipedia, protect the article against changes, and remove all quotes that oppose his narrative).
The distant second place goes to Alexander Kruel, mostly for his historical achievements, because he is not active recently. (But a decade ago, about 2⁄3 of negative statements about the rationalist community could be traced back to David/RW and about 1⁄3 to Alexander’s blog.)
There is no third place, IMHO. Everything else is just a blip on the radar, including the negative press recently sparked by the Zizians.
I think there is a vast difference between Gerard and Kruel, not just in the damage each has caused but also in their intellectual honesty and responsiveness to argument (null in the case of Gerard, decent in the case of Kruel, at least from my recollection).
But a decade ago, about 2⁄3 of negative statements about the rationalist community could be traced back to David/RW and about 1⁄3 to Alexander’s blog.)
Does it matter if they are are true negative statements, or false ones?
Note that Alexander Kruel still blogs regularly on axisofordinary.blogspot.com, and from his Facebook account; he just doesn’t say anything directly about rationalists. He mostly lists recent developments in AI, science, tech, and the Ukraine war.
First place goes to David Gerard / RationalWiki—not exactly the same thing, but a huge overlap. There are also other editors on RationalWiki, but most of them are much less active and not as hostile towards the rationalist community as David. David is also the driving force behind the SneerClub, plus he edits Wikipedia, which vastly expands his possibilities (he can write a “snarky” comment on RW, have a journalist quote it, then he can quote the journalist in Wikipedia, protect the article against changes, and remove all quotes that oppose his narrative).
The distant second place goes to Alexander Kruel, mostly for his historical achievements, because he is not active recently. (But a decade ago, about 2⁄3 of negative statements about the rationalist community could be traced back to David/RW and about 1⁄3 to Alexander’s blog.)
There is no third place, IMHO. Everything else is just a blip on the radar, including the negative press recently sparked by the Zizians.
I think there is a vast difference between Gerard and Kruel, not just in the damage each has caused but also in their intellectual honesty and responsiveness to argument (null in the case of Gerard, decent in the case of Kruel, at least from my recollection).
Does it matter if they are are true negative statements, or false ones?
Note that Alexander Kruel still blogs regularly on axisofordinary.blogspot.com, and from his Facebook account; he just doesn’t say anything directly about rationalists. He mostly lists recent developments in AI, science, tech, and the Ukraine war.
substack, not blogspot
Well, that was an interesting top-down processing error.