The surprising part is that you consider them a part of the rationalist community. What did they do to deserve this honor?
(Noting again that I’m speaking only of the pre-2020 situation, as I lack much recent info) Many don’t consider them part of “the” community. This is part of how they come to be not-helped by the more mainstream/healthy parts.
However: they are seeded by people who were deeply affected by Eliezer’s writing, and who wanted to matter for AI risk, and who grabbed some tools and practices from what you would regard as the rationality community, and who then showed their friends their “cool mind-tools” etc., with the memes evolving from there.
Also, it at least used to be that there was no crisp available boundary: one’s friends will sometimes have friendships that reach beyond, and so habits will move from what I’m calling the “periphery” into the “mainstream” and back.
The social puzzle faced by bay area rationalists is harder than that faced by eg Boston-area rationalists, owing mostly I think to the sheer size of the bay area rationality community.
(Noting again that I’m speaking only of the pre-2020 situation, as I lack much recent info) Many don’t consider them part of “the” community. This is part of how they come to be not-helped by the more mainstream/healthy parts.
However: they are seeded by people who were deeply affected by Eliezer’s writing, and who wanted to matter for AI risk, and who grabbed some tools and practices from what you would regard as the rationality community, and who then showed their friends their “cool mind-tools” etc., with the memes evolving from there.
Also, it at least used to be that there was no crisp available boundary: one’s friends will sometimes have friendships that reach beyond, and so habits will move from what I’m calling the “periphery” into the “mainstream” and back.
The social puzzle faced by bay area rationalists is harder than that faced by eg Boston-area rationalists, owing mostly I think to the sheer size of the bay area rationality community.