Dusting off this old account of mine just to say I told you so.
Now, some snark:
“Leverage is a cult!”
“No, MIRI/CFAR is a cult!”
“No, the Vassarites are a cult!”
“No, the Zizians are a cult!”
Scott: if you believe that people have auras that can implant demons into your mind then you’re clearly insane and you should seek medical help.
Also Scott: beware this charismatic Vassar guy, he can give you psychosis!
Scott 2015: Universal love, said the cactus person
Scott 2016: acritically signal boosts Aella talking about her inordinate drug use.
Scott 2018: promotes a scamcoin by Aella and Vinay Gupta, a differently sane tech entrepreneur-cum-spiritual guru, who apparently burned his brain during a “collaborative celebration” session.
Scott 2021: why do rationalists take so many psychedelic drugs? Must be Vassar’s bad influence.
Btw, I hate to pick on Scott, since he’s likely the sanest person in the whole community, but he’s also one of the most influential people there, possibly even more than Eliezer, therefore I find his lack of self awareness disturbing.
That’s all folks
No offense, but the article you linked is quite terrible because it compares total deaths while completely disregarding the base rates of use. By the same logic, cycling is more dangerous than base jumping.
This said, yes, some drugs are more dangerous than others, but good policies need to be simple, unambiguous and easy to enforce. A policy of “no illegal drugs” satisfies these criteria, while a policy of “do your own research and use your own judgment” in practice means “junkies welcome”.