Having said that, there are differences between my view and the one mattnewport mentioned. I don't necessarily believe the institutions exist for a good reason; it's not obviously related to the accumulated wisdom of ages or anything. Rather, out of all the internet sites out there, some were bound to turn out well.

However, given this, it makes more sense for those to maintain their current standards and for others to copy and implement their ideas, and then experiment, than for Atlas to experiment with better ways of holding up the world.

For the same reason we worry about existential risks to humanity, we should worry about existential risks to LW.

Of course, this argument is strong in proportion to how exceptional LW is, and weak in proportion to how close other sites are.