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Culture War Roundup for the week of March 30, 2026

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There are a couple of strange personal attacks toward me, accusing me of being racist, or that I live in a bubble. "Rationalists are weirdos who talk about IQ all the time" is a very standard attack. Of course, in this society, discussion of intelligence (not that IQ measures that exactly, although it is certainly the closest proxy we have) is like discussing who is human and who is sub-human. Attacks of these nature are once again examples of upholding the moral valuation rule. Do people get attacked for "talking about beauty" or "talking about athleticism?"

I wasn't attacking you. I was disagreeing with you.

Whether I'm properly a rationalist or not, I am at least rat adjacent. I've read the Sequences, kept up with Scott Alexander, and I believe that IQ is largely genetic and not everyone is born with the same endowment of it. I wasn't saying "boo IQ" or "boo smartness" or anything of the sort.

I was saying what I thought to be the case: that you might have lived most of your life in a bubble. I was saying this because I believe on some level I have lived in such a bubble. I was a gifted and talented kid, took honors and AP classes, and my parents both worked in a STEM field. I know that I internalized the idea that intelligence was very important, if not the most important thing. But I try not to be an elitist or a misanthrope. At a very basic level, I like people, and there are plenty of virtues I value besides intelligence such as kindness, civic virtue, or industriousness.

I'm not offended or surprised at the idea that some people might have lower natural endowments of intelligence. I don't view discussing it as the same thing as discussing whether some people are sub-human or not. I just thought you might be living in a bubble of sorts, without any judgement. If I'm wrong, I apologize for my incorrect assessment of your situation.