Eliezer is a very smart person. Certainly much smarter than me. But so is Robin Hanson. (I won’t get into which one is “smarter”, as they are both at least two levels above me) and I feel he is often—“under-appreciated” perhaps is the closest word?-- perhaps because he doesn’t posts as often, but perhaps also because people tend to “me too” Eliezer a lot more often than they “me too” Robin (but again this might be because EY posts much more frequently than RH).
I do believe I under appreciate Robin. However, what it feels like to me is that my personality at I suspect a gentic level is more similar to that of Eleizer than of Robin. In particular my impression of Robin is that he is more talented than Eleizer at social kinds of cognition. That does not mean I think Robin is less rational. It means that when I read Eleizer’s work I think “yeah, that’s bloody obvious!” whereas some of Robin’s significant contributions I actually have to actively account for my own biasses and work to consider his expertise and that of those he refers to.
My suspicion is that people who have similar minds to Robin would be less inclined to be involved in rationalist discourse than the more instinctively individualist. This accounts somewhat for the differences in ’me too’s but if anything makes Robin more remarkable.
I do believe I under appreciate Robin. However, what it feels like to me is that my personality at I suspect a gentic level is more similar to that of Eleizer than of Robin. In particular my impression of Robin is that he is more talented than Eleizer at social kinds of cognition. That does not mean I think Robin is less rational. It means that when I read Eleizer’s work I think “yeah, that’s bloody obvious!” whereas some of Robin’s significant contributions I actually have to actively account for my own biasses and work to consider his expertise and that of those he refers to.
My suspicion is that people who have similar minds to Robin would be less inclined to be involved in rationalist discourse than the more instinctively individualist. This accounts somewhat for the differences in ’me too’s but if anything makes Robin more remarkable.