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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   2281 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 18, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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In a recent post Scott Alexander says,

As for older people, I have seen public intellectual after public intellectual who I previously respected have their brains turn to puddles of partisan-flavored mush. Jordan Peterson, Ken White, Curtis Yarvin, Paul Krugman, Elon Musk, the Weinsteins...

Can anyone explain what Scott means by this in reference to Eric Weinstein? I'm curious about Eric. He says interesting, often conspiratorial things, that sound somewhat reasonable, but I don't have the background/intelligence to evaluate. Can anyone summarize which of his controversial ideas seem to have some truth to them?

Specifically, I'm curious about his claims around:

  • The Department of Energy suppressing advanced physics
  • UFO psyops by the government
  • The idea that String Theory is a dead end and new theories aren't being explored because of institutional capture

I've read this one recently: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trouble_with_Physics I admit I don't have nearly enough knowledge to make any reasonable assessment of my own, but it certainly was illuminating is a way of "oh, so that's a thing too!". And given the general state of academia, I totally believe in the possibility of institutional capture, but I have no means to figure out if it's actually happening or not.

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