this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2023
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SneerClub

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Hurling ordure at the TREACLES, especially those closely related to LessWrong.

AI-Industrial-Complex grift is fine as long as it sufficiently relates to the AI doom from the TREACLES. (Though TechTakes may be more suitable.)

This is sneer club, not debate club. Unless it's amusing debate.

[Especially don't debate the race scientists, if any sneak in - we ban and delete them as unsuitable for the server.]

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[–] TerribleMachines@awful.systems 17 points 1 year ago (5 children)

My worry in 2021 was simply that the TESCREAL bundle of ideologies itself contains all the ingredients needed to “justify,” in the eyes of true believers, extreme measures to “protect” and “preserve” what Bostrom’s colleague, Toby Ord, describes as our “vast and glorious” future among the heavens.

Golly gee, those sure are all the ingredients for white supremacy these folk are playing around with what, good job there are no signs of racism... right, right?!?!

In other news, I find it wild that big Yud has gone on an arc from "I will build an AI to save everyone" to "let's do a domestic terrorism against AI researchers." He should be careful, someone might this this is displaced rage at his own failure to make any kind of intellectual progress while academic AI researchers have passed him by.

(Idk if anyone remembers how salty he was when AlphaGo showed up and crapped all over his "symbolic AI is the only way" mantra, but it's pretty funny to me that the very group of people he used to say were incompetent are a "threat" to him now they're successful. Schoolyard bully stuff and wotnot.)

[–] froztbyte@awful.systems 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

In other news, I find it wild that big Yud has gone on an arc from “I will build an AI to save everyone” to “let’s do a domestic terrorism against AI researchers.” He should be careful, someone might this this is displaced rage at his own failure to make any kind of intellectual progress while academic AI researchers have passed him by.

disclaimer/framing: the 'ole yudster only came to my attention fairly recently, so the following is observation/speculation (and I'll need some more evidence/visibility to see if the guess pans out)

a few years ago I happened to deal with someone who is a hell of a grifter - in intensity, scope, impact. it was primarily through that experience which I gained handle on a number of things that've served me well in spotting it in other things. some things I've been observing under that light:

  1. he's clearly talking out of his ass almost all the time
  2. shell game applies
  3. I think 'ole yuddy is aware that he's not as clever as he claims he is, and is very salty about that[0]

no-op line to make lemmy newline better

(1) and (2) means he has to continuously keep ahead of the marks ^W rats. the guy is fairly clearly some kind of widely read/informed, and can manage to deal with some kind of complexity[1] in concepts. but because (3) - he can never be as right as he wants to be, so he has to keep pivoting the grift to a new base before he gets egg on his face. his method for doing this is "abandon all hope" but practically it's an attempt to retcon history, and likely if anyone tried to really engage him on it he'd get ragey and blame them on working on "outdated information" or some other shit (because lol who needs acknowledging their own past actions amirite)[2]

[0] - this is a guess from my side, but all his "imagine a world in which einstein wasn't exceptional, because there's many of them" shit comes through to me in this way. anyone else?

[1] - not very well, of course, this is why the multi-million word vomits exist, but "some".

[2] - this is something I've seen with narcissists a lot - they can never be wrong, and "making them" be wrong (i.e. simply providing proof of past actions/statements) gets them going nuclear

[–] TerribleMachines@awful.systems 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My perspective is a little different (from having met him), I think he genuinely believed a lot of what he said at one point at least ... but you're pretty much spot on in all the ways that matter, he's a really bad person of the should probably be in jail for crimes kind.

[–] froztbyte@awful.systems 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The line between “actually believes $x” and “appears to actually believe $x” can be made heeeeeella fuzzy (and people in that space take advantage of that)

Curious about the latter half of your remarks. Is that opinion, or something grounded in other knowledge that isn’t widely known yet?

[–] TerribleMachines@awful.systems 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Good point with the line! Some of the best liars are good at pretending to themselves they believe something.

I don't think its widely known, but it is known, (old sneeeclub posts about it somwhere) that he used to feed the people he was dating LSD and try to convince them they "depended" on him.

First time I met him, in a professional setting, he had his (at the time) wife kneeling at his feet wearing a collar.

Do I have hard proof he's a criminal? Probably not, at least not without digging. Do I think he is? Almost certainly.

[–] self@awful.systems 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

First time I met him, in a professional setting, he had his (at the time) wife kneeling at his feet wearing a collar.

hold on, you can’t just write this paragraph and then continue on as if it’s not a whole damn thing

ah yes the first time I met yud he non-consensually involved me in his bondage play with his wife (which he somehow incorporated into a business meeting)

[–] TerribleMachines@awful.systems 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

😅 honestly I don't know what else to say, the memory haunts me to this day. I think it was the point when I started going "huh, the rats make weirdly dumb mistakes considering they've made posts exactly about these kinds of error" to "wait, there's something really sinister going on here"

[–] earthquake@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Can you say where and when this happened without doxxing yourself? Was anyone else around while he and his wife were doing this?

Best not to for exactly that reason but I know I wasn't the only one who experienced it by any means!

[–] cstross@wandering.shop 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@self Oh, that's like the time I met Young Moldbug at his student house and his first words were, "let me show you the lizard room!"

He was so proud of his room full of giant lizards (and the odd snake).

So proud.

[–] dgerard@awful.systems 6 points 1 year ago

that's literally the most endearing and human thing I've ever heard about Yarvin

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[–] maol@awful.systems 12 points 1 year ago (6 children)

The description of how utopians see critics ("profoundly immoral people who block the path to utopia, threatening to impede the march toward paradise, arguably the greatest moral crime one could commit") is extremely similar to the way scientologists see their critics and ex-members. I suppose at least TESCREALists have a slightly higher measure of independence than scientologists and are thus less likely to be convinced to poison a critic's dog or send them threatening letters.

[–] saucerwizard@awful.systems 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (11 children)

Not just Scientology; Peoples Temple, Aum, or Shining Path all apply too.

Edit: they also have more money and political influence at this point then the above. this isn’t good imo.

[–] maol@awful.systems 8 points 1 year ago

Yeah it is the classic cult characteristic. Synanon members putting a snake in someone's letterbox is another example. Also Hare Krishnas, MOVE, etc etc.

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[–] NataliePortland@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 year ago (4 children)

This is a good article. I just recently heard this TESCREAL term from the Crazy Town podcast, and it's scary stuff. I don't know what some of these words are on your community sidebar and I'm not at all sure what this community is about. I'm guessing it's a hate group, otherwise you would use words everyone understands. And now I'm wondering what's even the use of this comment. And I'm probably about to get attacked by members of an online hate group

[–] TerribleMachines@awful.systems 14 points 1 year ago

Having lurked for a long time, sneerclub is aimed at people who already have a good idea of the horror of TESCREAL groups—the point isn't to attract new members, but catharsis for those of us that have had to deal with the TechBros/Facists etc.

and for sneering, the sneering is important.

Getting real for a moment, for me, I used to be in deep with these people and then my friends in the community commited suicide due the rampant sexual abuse and I got the hell out. Sneer club was the only place the reports of assault were taken seriously, while the TESCREALs all closed ranks.

It's all a way back for me now, but I love this place. That there is a tiny part of the Internet out there that calls these people on their shit and sneers gives me so much peace.

(For sneerclubbers reading this; thanks folks, you're the best! ✨️)

[–] dgerard@awful.systems 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

yeah, sneerclub is a sub for those who know too much about these bozos (I've been following them since 2010 good lord) to post negativity. The linked article is the easy introduction to their foolishness.

TESCREAL is becoming the accepted academic acronym - Transhumanism, Singularity, Cosmism, Rationalism, Effective Altruism, Longtermism - even though TREACLES was right there

[–] froztbyte@awful.systems 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

even though TREACLES was right there

I still wish there were a U in there somewhere, because ARSECULT

[–] bitofhope@awful.systems 7 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Too bad E and A should be next to each other too

[–] froztbyte@awful.systems 9 points 1 year ago

Hmm branding opportunity, “unwanted altruism”

[–] skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] bitofhope@awful.systems 10 points 1 year ago

Maybe this place needs a sister community SNEARCULT.

[–] froztbyte@awful.systems 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

“SEARCULT is totally innocent, okay? We’re just really into good steak and Enlightened Conversations..”

[–] skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 year ago

i just wanna grill for god's sake

[–] BernieDoesIt@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's all that keeps TESLAREC from being a contender.

[–] bitofhope@awful.systems 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] BernieDoesIt@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

Part of a balanced breakfast!

[–] GorillasAreForEating@awful.systems 3 points 11 months ago

Utilitarianism

[–] blakestacey@awful.systems 9 points 1 year ago

We're a point-and-laugh-at-TESCREAL-people group.

[–] saucerwizard@awful.systems 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] dgerard@awful.systems 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

not an unreasonable fear when the linked article details the cultist death threats Torres has been getting

[–] NataliePortland@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

ya idk maybe i was a bit hasty in tossing around 'hate group' but I would still like to just Homer Simpson right back into the bush.

get a load of these DWEEBS tryna eugenics their way into utopia! (am i doing this right?)

[–] maol@awful.systems 12 points 1 year ago

I realise that a reddit-clone forum with a load of jargon probably does look a bit, um...hate group-y, but I wouldn't describe sneerclub as a hate group. More like Scientology watchers. The reason sneer club is no longer on Reddit is because it chose to leave (during the recent changes), not because it was banned (like, say, r/incel).

[–] dgerard@awful.systems 8 points 1 year ago

they are cuddly little smol bean nerds, very endearing!!! except you know the pervasive race science

[–] froztbyte@awful.systems 7 points 1 year ago

ya idk maybe i was a bit hasty in tossing around ‘hate group’ but I would still like to just Homer Simpson right back into the bush.

speaking for myself (and likely others would agree): I understand this impulse, but choose to throw shade because these utterly moronic ideas deserve public shaming and counterpush. the fact that it's so easy to take their shit apart while they ostensibly have all those highly-paid bigbrains is, well, rather indicative of just how thoroughly put together their fuckwittery is

get a load of these DWEEBS tryna eugenics their way into utopia! (am i doing this right?)

yep

[–] TerryTPlatypus 6 points 1 year ago

These people are too disconnected from reality, too prideful of their "intelligence" and "success" from their tech startups, and have read too much Isaac Asimov. smh.

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