In Paul Fussell’s book on class (I think), he says that people are really worried about differentiating themselves from the class immediately below them, but largely ignorant of the customs and sometimes even existence of the classes above them. When I found SSC, and then The Motte, and stuff like TLP, I was astonished to find a tier of the internet I had had no idea even existed. The quality of discourse here is . . . usually . . . of the kind that “high brow” (by internet standards) websites THINK they are having, but when you see the best stuff here you realize that those clowns are just flattering themselves. My question is, who is rightly saying the same thing about us? Of what intellectual internet class am I ignorant now? Or does onlineness impose some kind of ceiling on things, and the real galaxy brains are at the equivalent of Davos somewhere?
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I'm sorry, children, but everytime I read something like that from Yudkowsky - emoji reaction: 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I shouldn't be giving opinions when I'm not familiar enough with the man or the milieu, but the bits I encounter do make me think he has a chip on his shoulder about his intellect (and apparently he did not go to college, or does not have a conventional degree, or something? so there is a grudge about needing credentials for a 'pass' in academic circles?). He also does not strike me as someone with much of a sense of humour.
Or perhaps, EY, that person was slyly and subtly yanking your chain. Especially if you carry on like a vain, insecure woman needing to ask the magic mirror if she is the prettiest in the land:
Who does that? Who waits for the opportunity to ask random acquaintances "So, uh, hey. Exactly how big would you say my brain was?" and then gets disappointed when told "There's this guy who is really, really smart"? If you go around asking "Am I the prettiest in all the land?", you are setting yourself up for "Snow White is prettier".
And "Well, you strike me as smart alright, you ought to go to college, you know!" 😉 If you go fishing for compliments, you're liable to pull up a few old boots instead of the plump trout you were hoping for.
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