Allowing paid subscriptions changes the incentive structure for authors on LW and, as a result, has a high chance of pushing the culture of the site in a wrong direction.
I’m also not particularly sure what issue your proposal is meant to solve. The fact that Scott Alexander doesn’t post on LW is good, actually. As he has acknowledged, “the rationalist community was really great” and he could meaningfully contribute “new and exciting ideas,” break it down into “easily digestible bits,” and communicate them.
Nowadays, because the lowest-hanging fruits have all been picked long ago, Scott rarely has additional fundamental insights about rationality to expand upon that haven’t already become part of the LW zeitgeist. And, additionally, he can focus on politically charged topics in a way his ACX subscribers benefit from, but which (rightfully) doesn’t fit too well with LW culture and guidelines.
We don’t need Scott Alexander posting on LW. Substack is good enough for that.
Nowadays, because the lowest-hanging fruits have all been picked long ago
Not in the sense of actually solving epistemology, ethics, consciousness etc. There’s a lot of work still to be done and it involves backtracking..admitting you were.wrong and trying a different approach..and few are interested in that.
Allowing paid subscriptions changes the incentive structure for authors on LW and, as a result, has a high chance of pushing the culture of the site in a wrong direction.
I’m also not particularly sure what issue your proposal is meant to solve. The fact that Scott Alexander doesn’t post on LW is good, actually. As he has acknowledged, “the rationalist community was really great” and he could meaningfully contribute “new and exciting ideas,” break it down into “easily digestible bits,” and communicate them.
Nowadays, because the lowest-hanging fruits have all been picked long ago, Scott rarely has additional fundamental insights about rationality to expand upon that haven’t already become part of the LW zeitgeist. And, additionally, he can focus on politically charged topics in a way his ACX subscribers benefit from, but which (rightfully) doesn’t fit too well with LW culture and guidelines.
We don’t need Scott Alexander posting on LW. Substack is good enough for that.
Not in the sense of actually solving epistemology, ethics, consciousness etc. There’s a lot of work still to be done and it involves backtracking..admitting you were.wrong and trying a different approach..and few are interested in that.