I read this not knowing Eliezer had written it. I thought it was someone trying to imitate his style, and I kept thinking “Man, this style is off-putting” and “this could be edited to be half the length, if not less”.
I have probably read everything Eliezer has written, including the amazing Mad Investor Chaos. Eliezer is the most important influence on my thinking. But the prose here is so unnecessarily condescending and at times somewhat precious, like the way things are named (“disaster monkeys”, “Very Serious Engineer”, “the great seriousness of a decent engineer”, etc). So much of this post is loaded with judgment or pettiness.
The post feels rushed and closer to an unedited rant. Also, repetitive of other posts that made the point more succinctly (one-shotting is hard, people really don’t grasp how hard). This is the type of writing that will turn off most readers who are not already convinced.
The top comment is indeed similar, but the Dwarkesh podcast excerpt is not the same conversation; it’s about fiction vs nonfiction. My gripe here is about the low quality of the nonfiction.
I read this not knowing Eliezer had written it. I thought it was someone trying to imitate his style, and I kept thinking “Man, this style is off-putting” and “this could be edited to be half the length, if not less”.
I have probably read everything Eliezer has written, including the amazing Mad Investor Chaos. Eliezer is the most important influence on my thinking. But the prose here is so unnecessarily condescending and at times somewhat precious, like the way things are named (“disaster monkeys”, “Very Serious Engineer”, “the great seriousness of a decent engineer”, etc). So much of this post is loaded with judgment or pettiness.
The post feels rushed and closer to an unedited rant. Also, repetitive of other posts that made the point more succinctly (one-shotting is hard, people really don’t grasp how hard).
This is the type of writing that will turn off most readers who are not already convinced.
The top comments on his previous parable were similar to yours, and he’s explained why on Dwarkesh’s podcast.
The top comment is indeed similar, but the Dwarkesh podcast excerpt is not the same conversation; it’s about fiction vs nonfiction. My gripe here is about the low quality of the nonfiction.