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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Notes -
Only places I would think to check would be:
obscure math forums
other obscure technical forums
conspiracy dens (FTX inner circle, kingmakers inside each political party, intelligence agency leadership, EA leadership, etc.)
LessWrong, EA, and affiliates. I'd categorize these guys as "smarter but less intelligent." This is purely my opinion, but it seems to me that while many of them have extremely powerful brains, they are a little caught up in their own swirl of ideas. I find posts here less technical or advanced than theirs, but generally more insightful.
I may not be smart enough to access that next tier up, but the rationalist leaders certainly are, and they've never mentioned anything of the sort. So I am moderately doubtful that one does exist, at least one with our size and activity.
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