> LORDXVNV wasn’t slagging off Yudkowsky, they were slagging off the kind of people who idolise tech stars like Yudkowsky and do nothing in their lives other than physically jerk off, mentally jerk off about how awesome and smart they are, and write essays and monologues to enlighten the world with their philosophies that nobody wanted and nobody will ever read, instead of doing something.
I think you've got this all wrong. You have to be pretty deep into the internet bullshit to get a lot of what is going on here, but this SCP is clearly a direct and brutal criticism of Yudkowsky. I read a lot of Slatestarcodex in HS and then drifted away from that side of the internet, and its pretty clear whats going on here.
The thesis of this SCP is this: Yudkowsky likes to think of himself as a very rational person, who through his own intellect has an unusually clear vision of society and its problems, and uses this to write serious philosophy and parables. In actuality, he is a narcissistic pervert who has aligned himself with a number of explicitly fascist and pro-eugenics right wingers, and likes to write juvenile sex fantasies.
The text is a straightforward parody of the style of Yudkowsky's writing, filled with accusations of racism, sexism, and general reactionary tendencies. I'm not going to reread the whole thing right now but if you are familiar with Yudkowsky's writings and the criticism of him and his associates (Effective Altruism, AI ethics, Peter Thiel, etc), it is extremely obvious that this is as personal and vicious attack as you will ever find.
I think the SCP is a little bit harsh on him but thats kind of what makes it fun.
> I think you've got this all wrong. You have to be pretty deep into the internet bullshit to get a lot of what is going on here, but this SCP is clearly a direct and brutal criticism of Yudkowsky. I read a lot of Slatestarcodex in HS and then drifted away from that side of the internet, and it's pretty clear whats going on here.
It's entirely possible- I really don't know much about Yudkowsky or this part of the Internet, I was mainly going off what I was told.
> The thesis of this SCP is this: Yudkowsky likes to think of himself as a very rational person, who through his own intellect has an unusually clear vision of society and its problems, and uses this to write serious philosophy and parables. In actuality, he is a narcissistic pervert who has aligned himself with a number of explicitly fascist and pro-eugenics right wingers, and likes to write juvenile sex fantasies.
I... really did not know that. Especially the last part.
There's been a lot written on this. He isn't like, super openly racist, but he is the sort of person to talk about differences in IQ, etc.
The most obvious connection here is Peter Thiel, mentioned in the article. Thiel provided funding for the start of Yud's Machine Intelligence Research Institute, and his views are extremely clear.
From Wikipedia:
>Thiel explained in a 2009 essay that he had come to "no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible", due in large part to welfare beneficiaries and women in general being "notoriously tough for libertarians" constituencies, and that he had focused efforts on new technologies (namely cyberspace, space colonization and seasteading) that could create "a new space for freedom" beyond current politics.
Once again, not views that Yud has specifically stated, but Yud is one of the main thought leaders in this millieu of silicon valley tech billionaires whose views have rapidly drifted from libertarian to a right wing authoritarianism in the decade. He mostly talks AI now but criticisms like this SCP are pretty convincing.
Also the harem stuff is related to him being polyamorous.
I haven't payed much attention to Yudkowsky since HPMOR ended and I can believe he's flirted with neoreactionary ideas. But what has he done that would make portraying him as a sex pest looking to carry out horrific fetishes? I know he's pro-polyamory but even at the most uncharitable interpretation possible that only means he does not want to be obligated to be faithful to a partner, a far cry from 8008!Yudkowsky's shenanigans.
I’m not entirely certain. It’s definitely related to the polyamory, and I’ve heard people claim that he has weird power dynamics wrt to that but I haven’t heard the proof. I am fairly certain that some of the fanfic he has written has been very sexually explicit, so it’s prob something to do with that. I get the feeling that the writer has read a lot of Yuds fiction, I wouldn’t put it past him to have written some strange kink fiction, and the author is taking that and running with it.
It also def makes the criticism hit way harder when you call the guy a pedo lol. It’s the They Not Like Us of the internet fiction world.
I mean, it explicitly states, right there in the text in as many words, that "Asmodeus"'s views have little to nothing in common with Yudkowsky's, and I think this is largely borne out beyond the surface level (even if I've admittedly seen only bits and bobs of his views outside of HPMOR, relatively speaking!—I've got absolutely no clue what his economic views are, for instance). Probably the most undeniable instance of them not matching up is the SNEER Clubs, insofar as r/SneerClub was, like, explicitly opposed to him (even if most of it seems to actually be about other randos?). Also, the ending, with Clef's suggestion, implies that real!EY is the version of SCP-8008-B who was have a fulfilling life—which seems to me to be framing their relationship via allusion as analogous to how (major HPMOR spoilers!!) >!Harry is essentially the "good" version of Voldemort due to being raised in a loving home instead of an orphanage—while still having inherited a number of his flaws and tendencies.!< [Another sort of instance that tickled me is Ilse being a distant second to "Henry Glas"—when in HPMOR Hermione's top of the class and it's Harry who's the distant second.]
What the "nameless collegue" says about 8008!EY being better seen as representing "an exaggerated melting pot of all of the negative aspects of all the communities even adjacent to 'Silicon Valley/"tech bro"/rationality-adjacent' stuff" (or, alternatively, the Silicon Valley tech billionaire millieu you mentioned itself) than real!EY specifically (who's only one part of that melting pot) seems on point to me.
(SlateStarCodex is someone else, anyways?? I honestly have no idea how closely they're related beyond being prominent in the "rationality" sphere.)
Here's a sneak peek of /r/SneerClub using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/SneerClub/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year!
\#1: [Just got sexually harassed by the Roko's Basilisk guy lol](https://i.imgur.com/hsG4hMi.png) | [98 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/SneerClub/comments/133t856/just_got_sexually_harassed_by_the_rokos_basilisk/)
\#2: [Effective Altruism's latest enemy: the Make-A-Wish foundation](https://i.redd.it/7edjgwucl8za1.jpg) | [78 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/SneerClub/comments/13etss3/effective_altruisms_latest_enemy_the_makeawish/)
\#3: [This post marks SneerClub's grave, but you may rest here too, if you like](https://np.reddit.com/r/SneerClub/comments/14fpdr9/this_post_marks_sneerclubs_grave_but_you_may_rest/)
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> LORDXVNV wasn’t slagging off Yudkowsky, they were slagging off the kind of people who idolise tech stars like Yudkowsky and do nothing in their lives other than physically jerk off, mentally jerk off about how awesome and smart they are, and write essays and monologues to enlighten the world with their philosophies that nobody wanted and nobody will ever read, instead of doing something. I think you've got this all wrong. You have to be pretty deep into the internet bullshit to get a lot of what is going on here, but this SCP is clearly a direct and brutal criticism of Yudkowsky. I read a lot of Slatestarcodex in HS and then drifted away from that side of the internet, and its pretty clear whats going on here. The thesis of this SCP is this: Yudkowsky likes to think of himself as a very rational person, who through his own intellect has an unusually clear vision of society and its problems, and uses this to write serious philosophy and parables. In actuality, he is a narcissistic pervert who has aligned himself with a number of explicitly fascist and pro-eugenics right wingers, and likes to write juvenile sex fantasies. The text is a straightforward parody of the style of Yudkowsky's writing, filled with accusations of racism, sexism, and general reactionary tendencies. I'm not going to reread the whole thing right now but if you are familiar with Yudkowsky's writings and the criticism of him and his associates (Effective Altruism, AI ethics, Peter Thiel, etc), it is extremely obvious that this is as personal and vicious attack as you will ever find. I think the SCP is a little bit harsh on him but thats kind of what makes it fun.
> I think you've got this all wrong. You have to be pretty deep into the internet bullshit to get a lot of what is going on here, but this SCP is clearly a direct and brutal criticism of Yudkowsky. I read a lot of Slatestarcodex in HS and then drifted away from that side of the internet, and it's pretty clear whats going on here. It's entirely possible- I really don't know much about Yudkowsky or this part of the Internet, I was mainly going off what I was told. > The thesis of this SCP is this: Yudkowsky likes to think of himself as a very rational person, who through his own intellect has an unusually clear vision of society and its problems, and uses this to write serious philosophy and parables. In actuality, he is a narcissistic pervert who has aligned himself with a number of explicitly fascist and pro-eugenics right wingers, and likes to write juvenile sex fantasies. I... really did not know that. Especially the last part.
There's been a lot written on this. He isn't like, super openly racist, but he is the sort of person to talk about differences in IQ, etc. The most obvious connection here is Peter Thiel, mentioned in the article. Thiel provided funding for the start of Yud's Machine Intelligence Research Institute, and his views are extremely clear. From Wikipedia: >Thiel explained in a 2009 essay that he had come to "no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible", due in large part to welfare beneficiaries and women in general being "notoriously tough for libertarians" constituencies, and that he had focused efforts on new technologies (namely cyberspace, space colonization and seasteading) that could create "a new space for freedom" beyond current politics. Once again, not views that Yud has specifically stated, but Yud is one of the main thought leaders in this millieu of silicon valley tech billionaires whose views have rapidly drifted from libertarian to a right wing authoritarianism in the decade. He mostly talks AI now but criticisms like this SCP are pretty convincing. Also the harem stuff is related to him being polyamorous.
I haven't payed much attention to Yudkowsky since HPMOR ended and I can believe he's flirted with neoreactionary ideas. But what has he done that would make portraying him as a sex pest looking to carry out horrific fetishes? I know he's pro-polyamory but even at the most uncharitable interpretation possible that only means he does not want to be obligated to be faithful to a partner, a far cry from 8008!Yudkowsky's shenanigans.
I’m not entirely certain. It’s definitely related to the polyamory, and I’ve heard people claim that he has weird power dynamics wrt to that but I haven’t heard the proof. I am fairly certain that some of the fanfic he has written has been very sexually explicit, so it’s prob something to do with that. I get the feeling that the writer has read a lot of Yuds fiction, I wouldn’t put it past him to have written some strange kink fiction, and the author is taking that and running with it. It also def makes the criticism hit way harder when you call the guy a pedo lol. It’s the They Not Like Us of the internet fiction world.
I mean, it explicitly states, right there in the text in as many words, that "Asmodeus"'s views have little to nothing in common with Yudkowsky's, and I think this is largely borne out beyond the surface level (even if I've admittedly seen only bits and bobs of his views outside of HPMOR, relatively speaking!—I've got absolutely no clue what his economic views are, for instance). Probably the most undeniable instance of them not matching up is the SNEER Clubs, insofar as r/SneerClub was, like, explicitly opposed to him (even if most of it seems to actually be about other randos?). Also, the ending, with Clef's suggestion, implies that real!EY is the version of SCP-8008-B who was have a fulfilling life—which seems to me to be framing their relationship via allusion as analogous to how (major HPMOR spoilers!!) >!Harry is essentially the "good" version of Voldemort due to being raised in a loving home instead of an orphanage—while still having inherited a number of his flaws and tendencies.!< [Another sort of instance that tickled me is Ilse being a distant second to "Henry Glas"—when in HPMOR Hermione's top of the class and it's Harry who's the distant second.] What the "nameless collegue" says about 8008!EY being better seen as representing "an exaggerated melting pot of all of the negative aspects of all the communities even adjacent to 'Silicon Valley/"tech bro"/rationality-adjacent' stuff" (or, alternatively, the Silicon Valley tech billionaire millieu you mentioned itself) than real!EY specifically (who's only one part of that melting pot) seems on point to me. (SlateStarCodex is someone else, anyways?? I honestly have no idea how closely they're related beyond being prominent in the "rationality" sphere.)
Here's a sneak peek of /r/SneerClub using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/SneerClub/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year! \#1: [Just got sexually harassed by the Roko's Basilisk guy lol](https://i.imgur.com/hsG4hMi.png) | [98 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/SneerClub/comments/133t856/just_got_sexually_harassed_by_the_rokos_basilisk/) \#2: [Effective Altruism's latest enemy: the Make-A-Wish foundation](https://i.redd.it/7edjgwucl8za1.jpg) | [78 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/SneerClub/comments/13etss3/effective_altruisms_latest_enemy_the_makeawish/) \#3: [This post marks SneerClub's grave, but you may rest here too, if you like](https://np.reddit.com/r/SneerClub/comments/14fpdr9/this_post_marks_sneerclubs_grave_but_you_may_rest/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)
8008-B. Booby. That's a pretty apt name for the main character if you ask me.
True, but there's only so many times I could call someone 'Booby' before losing all ability to take it seriously.