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gog  1yr ago (text post)   Edited 1yr ago   5599 thread views

Where are the people smarter than us hanging out?

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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Great question and interesting observation by Fussell — I'll have to checkout that book.

About that observation: it reminds me of something Yud said back on LessWrong. I forget the quote and context completely, but the gist is that you can recognize intelligence below your own, but not above. This has disturbing implications if true, and I think it might be. Imagine snatching a random /r/politics user and plopping them down in our main thread. What do you think they would think of it? Would they be amazed at our level of detachment and erudition? Our attention to detail, willingness to take criticism, and ability to root out bad actors? Or would they be totally disinterested and even consider us the dumb ones? I think the latter is more likely.

So, given that there probably is a more intelligent forum out there, do you think we would even be able to appreciate it if we found it? It's interesting to ponder.

Another question: it what ways could this place be better?

I can absolutely notice the higher intellect of most posters here than me, and I think many lurkers are in the same boat.

Same. I'm dumber than most here. At times makes me hesitant to post as not to drag the level of discussion down. But hey, at least I can come up with good prompts! Plus, someone needs to state the obvious occasionally.

But that's my niche! We can't have half the Germans of the Motte in the same niche! Think of the stereotypes!

Die Deutschen sind ein gemeingefährliches Volk. Ehe man es sich versieht ziehen sie ein Gedicht aus der Tasche und beginnen ein Gespräch über KI.

My niche as well. Just keep the comment counts high enough to keep things rolling.

Some of us have to be way stupider to keep the average at the level it is, and that is the burden I bear for the common good 😀

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