It seems to me that over the past 1 or 2 months a lot of rationalists (N > 7.5) in Berkeley/Oakland have been acting pretty bizarrely (based on my observation of their online behavior). There are three main areas of concern:
An increase in expressed interest in Buddhism/spiritualism/meditation/mindfulness
AI Safety researchers (and associates) talking about really stupid topics
Increased hypomanic behavior and quackery among some people
I don't want to be more specific with #2 and #3 (no identifying information), but I think many people have seen at least #1 occurring.
I don't actually have any issues with #1 by itself (I am interested in these sorts of things), but I'm wondering why it's spreading more over the past 1 or 2 months.
Anyway, #2 and #3 are somewhat concerning, and I'm wondering if there's any overlap with #1.
Sorry for being vague and not providing examples of #2 and #3.
Buddhism and eastern mysticism have been gaining in popularity lately, so more people in the Rationalists space are likely to adopt it too (it's also the West coast). Also, my initial thought is that Buddhism, spirituality, etc are not exactly against Rationalist ideas. I see no concern.
It seems to me that over the past 1 or 2 months a lot of rationalists (N > 7.5) in Berkeley/Oakland have been acting pretty bizarrely (based on my observation of their online behavior). There are three main areas of concern:
An increase in expressed interest in Buddhism/spiritualism/meditation/mindfulness
AI Safety researchers (and associates) talking about really stupid topics
Increased hypomanic behavior and quackery among some people
I don't want to be more specific with #2 and #3 (no identifying information), but I think many people have seen at least #1 occurring.
I don't actually have any issues with #1 by itself (I am interested in these sorts of things), but I'm wondering why it's spreading more over the past 1 or 2 months.
Anyway, #2 and #3 are somewhat concerning, and I'm wondering if there's any overlap with #1.
Sorry for being vague and not providing examples of #2 and #3.