Besides thinking that in the end most people simply don’t pay attention to this anyway, so it doesn’t matter that much whether and how he appears in live debates:
My hunch is that it’s reasonably okay to appear like that because the one thing modern people are fed up about and skeptical against, is the well thought-through professionalized elite trained to sell the bullshit in the superficially most convincing way. So maybe a person who simply is a bit more casual or cheap-fun seeming in their appearance, might not hurt. It’s an empirical question and I have no proof, of course, but if I had to bet, I’d put a substantial weight on that hypothesis.
What is your background? I feel like if you are living in the bay area, you may have different assumptions than the general population. I am from Florida, and while many people I know wouldn’t be judgemental towards more casual attire in a debate, they would be distracted by Yudkowsky‘s outfit which is both ostentatious and absurd.
Besides thinking that in the end most people simply don’t pay attention to this anyway, so it doesn’t matter that much whether and how he appears in live debates:
My hunch is that it’s reasonably okay to appear like that because the one thing modern people are fed up about and skeptical against, is the well thought-through professionalized elite trained to sell the bullshit in the superficially most convincing way. So maybe a person who simply is a bit more casual or cheap-fun seeming in their appearance, might not hurt. It’s an empirical question and I have no proof, of course, but if I had to bet, I’d put a substantial weight on that hypothesis.
What is your background? I feel like if you are living in the bay area, you may have different assumptions than the general population. I am from Florida, and while many people I know wouldn’t be judgemental towards more casual attire in a debate, they would be distracted by Yudkowsky‘s outfit which is both ostentatious and absurd.