The word “agency” does too much double duty here. It’s both brute dominance and ordinary execution. Those aren’t the same trait, and they don’t produce the same world.
Such a great article. I don't know how you could stand being in the same room with some of these people, and if (or how) your faith in humanity survived talking to these people, but I guess it's important someone does!
>I asked Alexander whether he thought of himself as highly agentic. “No, I don’t,” he said instantly. He told me that in his personal life, he felt as though he’d never once actually made a decision. But, he said, “It seems to be going well.”
I wonder if he thought of himself as exhibiting agency when he emailed people enthusiastically about "human biodiversity", the idea that black people and other races are genetically inferior to white europeans.
At the point where the report was talking about the author's interview with the founder of Cluely, and the app entered some sort of failure mode, the first thought that occured to me was that it must be an internal sabotage orchestrated by Roy himself.
I'm surprised the author never considered this as I could easily think of a highly plausible motive for why Roy wouldn't like Cluely to function at its best in an interview trained on him. In fact, I thought it was inspired on the author's part to make this request and I was initially surprised that Roy (given the slightly dark tilt of his personality) agreed. It turned out he was neither dumb nor innocent, it seemed.
His response to Cluely failing was also kinda clueful. He faked normalcy as though his product would have gone viral if it had thrown up that kind of performance on its debut demonstration.
"Rationalists, like termites, live in eusocial mounds."
This piece became very disturbing to me after this. I don't know why you felt like you had to portray "rationalists" like non-human robotic things, but it was a bit scary to me. They're nerdy people, often times with social disorders and different social norms, but they're still people. And they are extremely, exceptionally friendly people. Your tone was exuding animosity and contempt for a group of people that, for all I can tell, invited you in with welcoming arms.
I’ve been waiting almost 6 months since we met at Lighthaven for this to come out!
Had to look up to make sure that these people weren't just more characters that you made up.
this piece rocks
The word “agency” does too much double duty here. It’s both brute dominance and ordinary execution. Those aren’t the same trait, and they don’t produce the same world.
Such a great article. I don't know how you could stand being in the same room with some of these people, and if (or how) your faith in humanity survived talking to these people, but I guess it's important someone does!
“They have too much money and nothing going on. They have no swag, no smoke, no motion, no hoes. That’s all you need to know.” Exquisite!
169% pure 24K Solid Comedy Gold.
Great piece!
>I asked Alexander whether he thought of himself as highly agentic. “No, I don’t,” he said instantly. He told me that in his personal life, he felt as though he’d never once actually made a decision. But, he said, “It seems to be going well.”
I wonder if he thought of himself as exhibiting agency when he emailed people enthusiastically about "human biodiversity", the idea that black people and other races are genetically inferior to white europeans.
Bravo
At the point where the report was talking about the author's interview with the founder of Cluely, and the app entered some sort of failure mode, the first thought that occured to me was that it must be an internal sabotage orchestrated by Roy himself.
I'm surprised the author never considered this as I could easily think of a highly plausible motive for why Roy wouldn't like Cluely to function at its best in an interview trained on him. In fact, I thought it was inspired on the author's part to make this request and I was initially surprised that Roy (given the slightly dark tilt of his personality) agreed. It turned out he was neither dumb nor innocent, it seemed.
His response to Cluely failing was also kinda clueful. He faked normalcy as though his product would have gone viral if it had thrown up that kind of performance on its debut demonstration.
"Rationalists, like termites, live in eusocial mounds."
This piece became very disturbing to me after this. I don't know why you felt like you had to portray "rationalists" like non-human robotic things, but it was a bit scary to me. They're nerdy people, often times with social disorders and different social norms, but they're still people. And they are extremely, exceptionally friendly people. Your tone was exuding animosity and contempt for a group of people that, for all I can tell, invited you in with welcoming arms.
Reads well at first, but I can't relate to bumblers, however IQ-laden. It's maybe a freeform diss.