To push back a bit: it seems like “reinventing ideas” comes with a negative connotation. In actuality, scientists and other intellectuals reinvent ideas all the time, sometimes in the same field, sometimes in related fields, sometimes in completely different ones. Often the “old” ideas are distilled and explained better, without the original fluff, and generalized to a wider applicability. LW is not unique or special in that regard, the only two differences I see are:
Occasional general tone of LW as superior due to obviously “rational” and “Bayesian” enlightened thinking,
Sneering by credentialed professional researchers at obviously amateurish know-it-alls.
Neither of those is completely without merit, but it is definitely counterproductive. Fortunately, some of the more prominent contributors after Eliezer are more familiar both with the fields they talk about and the appropriate tone of discourse in order to be taken seriously.
To push back a bit: it seems like “reinventing ideas” comes with a negative connotation. In actuality, scientists and other intellectuals reinvent ideas all the time, sometimes in the same field, sometimes in related fields, sometimes in completely different ones. Often the “old” ideas are distilled and explained better, without the original fluff, and generalized to a wider applicability. LW is not unique or special in that regard, the only two differences I see are:
Occasional general tone of LW as superior due to obviously “rational” and “Bayesian” enlightened thinking,
Sneering by credentialed professional researchers at obviously amateurish know-it-alls.
Neither of those is completely without merit, but it is definitely counterproductive. Fortunately, some of the more prominent contributors after Eliezer are more familiar both with the fields they talk about and the appropriate tone of discourse in order to be taken seriously.