Leaving aside the valid points about overrating particular experts, when you have limited exposure to opposing viewpoints on the subject matter; cult-like behavior doesn’t even require an intentional cult leader. Paul Graham doesn’t have to willfully cultivate that type of following, for some of it to arise spontaneously as a function of the social structures and participants around him.
Frequently agreeing with someone who has a lot of good ideas, and who also has high status in a community that you’re a member of, is not inherently bad. But once you get caught up in the social/community aspects of the group, there can be a profound and not-entirely-conscious motivation to value opinions of high-status members more, and to be less skeptical of their ideas, than you would of someone lower status.
Of course it doesn’t follow that you should automatically reject what they do, purely for the sake of disagreement with a popular (or unpopular) figure. But if you find yourself motivated to agree with them an overwhelming percentage of the time, it’s good to be alert to the possibility that you may unconsciously be maintaining a cognitive blind spot for yourself, or at least a blurry spot. Social instincts can be very powerful, and sometimes entirely automatic.
Leaving aside the valid points about overrating particular experts, when you have limited exposure to opposing viewpoints on the subject matter; cult-like behavior doesn’t even require an intentional cult leader. Paul Graham doesn’t have to willfully cultivate that type of following, for some of it to arise spontaneously as a function of the social structures and participants around him.
Frequently agreeing with someone who has a lot of good ideas, and who also has high status in a community that you’re a member of, is not inherently bad. But once you get caught up in the social/community aspects of the group, there can be a profound and not-entirely-conscious motivation to value opinions of high-status members more, and to be less skeptical of their ideas, than you would of someone lower status.
Of course it doesn’t follow that you should automatically reject what they do, purely for the sake of disagreement with a popular (or unpopular) figure. But if you find yourself motivated to agree with them an overwhelming percentage of the time, it’s good to be alert to the possibility that you may unconsciously be maintaining a cognitive blind spot for yourself, or at least a blurry spot. Social instincts can be very powerful, and sometimes entirely automatic.