Could also be that outsiders are resistant because they have blind spots where the idea is infectious, and respectable people on LW are respected because they do not have the blind spots—and so are infected.
I think these two views are actually the same, stated as inverses of each other. The term blind spot is problematic.
I think the term blind spot is accurate, unless (and I doubt it) Eliezer was lying when he later said fluffy was wrong. What fits the bill isn’t a correct scary idea, but merely a scary idea that fits into what the reader already thinks.
Maybe fluffy is a correct scary idea, and your allocation of blind spots (or discouraging of the use of the term) is correct, but secondhand evidence points towards fluffy being incorrect but scary to some people.
Could also be that outsiders are resistant because they have blind spots where the idea is infectious, and respectable people on LW are respected because they do not have the blind spots—and so are infected.
I think these two views are actually the same, stated as inverses of each other. The term blind spot is problematic.
I think the term blind spot is accurate, unless (and I doubt it) Eliezer was lying when he later said fluffy was wrong. What fits the bill isn’t a correct scary idea, but merely a scary idea that fits into what the reader already thinks.
Maybe fluffy is a correct scary idea, and your allocation of blind spots (or discouraging of the use of the term) is correct, but secondhand evidence points towards fluffy being incorrect but scary to some people.