While members of the TPOT community struggle with whether to embrace Mangione as part of what they call “the ingroup,” other extremely online commentators insist he has to be a member of the scene.
TPOT is commonly cited as an offshoot of rationalism, a popular Silicon Valley viewpoint popularized by thinkers like computer scientist Eliezer Yudkowsky and psychiatrist Scott Alexander that suggests all aspects of life should be decided based on rational thinking. Members of the TPOT community are often referred to as “post-rationalists” — former adherents who became “disillusioned with that whole scene, because it’s a little culty, it’s a little dogmatic,” said journalist.
Still, those in the subculture tend to share a few common interests and values: a fixation on technology — specifically, artificial intelligence — and an interest in self-improvement through diet, exercise, and meditation. Members speak often of exercising personal agency or free will in order to change their lives. (The term “agentic” is heavily employed in TPOT spaces to mean someone who exercises a high degree of personal agency; members encourage one another by saying, “You can just do things!”) Certain corners of the subculture embrace the use of psychedelics for self-help, and others, according to Rosenberg, adhere to pronatalism, the belief that a high birth rate is crucial to human survival.
Others suggest Mangione is more aligned with effective altruism, the similarly rationalist ideology that had a heyday in tech spaces before its chief promoter, Sam Bankman-Fried, was convicted of federal crimes.
Still, Rosenberg noted at least one other similarity between Mangione and the TPOTers: a penchant for overly long tweets.
“It’s a very verbal culture. People really love to have long-form discussions, state their opinions,” she said. “Really, just people who like to talk a lot.”
From the second link:
I have not found any evidence that Luigi was a specific fan of Scott, but he expressed appreciation for several figures associated with this big tent movement, including Peter Thiel.
My summary:
The evidence about the connection is that some members of TPOT (which is more like ex-rationalists) think that the shooter could be considered one of them (which is their opinion, not his). Also, someone unspecified said, without providing any evidence, that the shooter seems more like an EA to them. Finally, Rosenberg (who is he, and why should I care about his opinion?) found the smoking gun: both the shooter and the rationalists are verbose.
Also, the shooter knows Peter Thiel’s name, which suggests that he is a member of a mysterious inner circle.
(I guess this passes for journalism these days.)
EDIT: It also feels weird to use “people in a specific group approve of the shooter” as evidence for something, when there are probably many groups that do the same.
From the first link:
From the second link:
My summary:
The evidence about the connection is that some members of TPOT (which is more like ex-rationalists) think that the shooter could be considered one of them (which is their opinion, not his). Also, someone unspecified said, without providing any evidence, that the shooter seems more like an EA to them. Finally, Rosenberg (who is he, and why should I care about his opinion?) found the smoking gun: both the shooter and the rationalists are verbose.
Also, the shooter knows Peter Thiel’s name, which suggests that he is a member of a mysterious inner circle.
(I guess this passes for journalism these days.)
EDIT: It also feels weird to use “people in a specific group approve of the shooter” as evidence for something, when there are probably many groups that do the same.