I do agree that there is a slight ‘creepiness vibe’ with the way the Sequences . . . are written.
IIRC back when he was writing the sequences, Eliezer said that he was psychologically incapable of writing in the typical dry academic manner. I.e., he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to do so even if he knew doing so would improve the reception of his writing.
Pretty much the only way I can get myself to post here is to write a draft of the post I actually want to write, then just post that draft, since otherwise I’ll sit on it forever
I know its a bit late to respond but your comment had me thinking for a bit.
The typical academic writing style has certain specialized purposes, in the hands of experts, that Eliezer would almost certainly not have shared, or realized, when starting this forum.
‘Stuffiness’ may even be a desired attribute.
Though I do agree Eliezer seems to have an antipathy towards it and seemed to intentionally write in the opposite tone at the beginning. Although it was advantageous for attracting a wider audience this had the disadvantage of adding some unfortunate, even suspicious, undertones for an experienced and careful reader.
Then again due to the constrained nature of online communication it’s easy to suspect an ulterior purpose behind anything unusual one encounters.
IIRC back when he was writing the sequences, Eliezer said that he was psychologically incapable of writing in the typical dry academic manner. I.e., he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to do so even if he knew doing so would improve the reception of his writing.
Maybe he used the word “stuffy”.
Pretty much the only way I can get myself to post here is to write a draft of the post I actually want to write, then just post that draft, since otherwise I’ll sit on it forever
I know its a bit late to respond but your comment had me thinking for a bit.
The typical academic writing style has certain specialized purposes, in the hands of experts, that Eliezer would almost certainly not have shared, or realized, when starting this forum.
‘Stuffiness’ may even be a desired attribute.
Though I do agree Eliezer seems to have an antipathy towards it and seemed to intentionally write in the opposite tone at the beginning. Although it was advantageous for attracting a wider audience this had the disadvantage of adding some unfortunate, even suspicious, undertones for an experienced and careful reader.
Then again due to the constrained nature of online communication it’s easy to suspect an ulterior purpose behind anything unusual one encounters.