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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   9754 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 5, 2026

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This was probably the best post of Scott's that I've read so far this year. I don't know if that's testament to how good this post was, or how far he's fallen since his peak. I also don't even bother reading many of his new posts anymore. I'm also not a paid subscriber, so maybe the really good stuff is hidden behind the paywall.

I agree with Scott that many of Pinker's arguments as to why superintelligence will never happen seem rather facile, and often exhibit isolated demands for rigour.

That's funny you think that, because to me this is one of the worst posts of Scott's I've ever read, and emblematic of his general slide in quality. I guess the prose is good, no one would deny he's a talented writer, but the curious and empathetic blogger I fell in love with reading 10 years ago is nowhere in sight. He's been replaced with an AI activist determined to burn through a decade-plus of good will in the defense of an apocalyptic sex cult.

I don't know if that's testament to how good this post was, or how far he's fallen since his peak.

Could just be the target. His attitude towards Pinker reminds me of his attitude towards 2010s-era leftism, a complicated mix of "You were the chosen one!" and "You were my brother ... I loved you" with "you have become the very thing you swore to destroy" and "I will do what I must". That passionate mix of love and hate even elicited tolerable prose from George Lucas; of course it's going to be magic in the hands of a good writer!

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