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This is far from the first instance of a genius in one field going "well outside [their] field in an area that is potentially crank-adjacent".
Another is Sabine Hossenfelder. I'm confident her quantum physics videos are correct, and I found them more intuitive and helpful than any other explanations. I'm less confident about her videos on aliens, democracy, and the Theory of Everything.
Granted, they may be fine, I'm sure she needed diversification to stay funded, and I suspect a lot of her criticism is motivated by her clickbait headlines and attacking the Ivory Tower of academia (although I haven't looked at her specific claims and proposals, she's correct that it's inefficient and I agree that it should undergo some sort of reform). I'd be interested if anyone has more informed opinions on her shift. At least, I wish she still wrote some text posts (the last I could find is November 2022).
I can't take her seriously since her video about Eric Weinstein being right in the debate with Sean Carroll. That "debate" was the final nail in the coffin for me to decide that Eric Weinstein is pure fraud.
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