In this respect he strongly reminds me of Mencius Moldbug. However, also like Mencius, he seems to have a very political/social focus which fuels my suspicion that many of his top down "grand theories of how reality works" are false.
Oh yes, this is the aptest comparison on the page (a comparison to Robin Hanson would not be amiss either), except I get the feeling that Moldbug is more of a single big idea thinker than Rao (if you used Tetlock's dichotomy, Moldbug is a very happy curled-up hedgehog, and Rao would be the fox, possibly a fox on Adderall).
Both are provocative thinkers who probably are only occasionally truly right. But that's better than most writers, who are never right or provocative.
Venkatesh Rao (who is amazing because he literally constantly challenges our definitions of everything):
http://www.quora.com/Venkatesh-Rao/Quora-Portfolio-Year-1
http://www.quora.com/Venkatesh-Rao
http://www.ribbonfarm.com/be-slightly-evil/
http://www.ribbonfarm.com
Gregory Rader:
http://www.quora.com/Gregory-Rader
http://onthespiral.com/
Daniel Lemire:
http://www.quora.com/Daniel-Lemire and http://lemire.me/blog/ are also super-super-super interesting
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I tried doing google searches of site:lesswrong.com + their names (or websites), but ended up with little. I'd like to see what LessWrong thinks of Rao in particular. I have NEVER seen posts that were as amazingly insightful as his. It's worth it just to sacrifice a day just to see all his amazing posts. The others were also amazing and really make you think about everything.
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E.g. with Rao, you have
My favorites:
http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-benefits-to-obtaining-a-PhD-in-the-field-of-Education/answer/Venkatesh-Rao?srid=0WH
http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2010/05/19/intellectual-gluttony/
http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2011/04/07/extroverts-introverts-aspies-and-codies
http://www.quora.com/What-careers-or-industries-are-the-most-meritocratic/answer/Venkatesh-Rao?srid=0WH
http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2008/09/11/how-to-measure-information-work
http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-tips-for-advanced-writers/answer/Venkatesh-Rao
http://www.quora.com/Children/Why-do-some-humans-not-want-children/answer/Venkatesh-Rao
http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best-way-to-motivate-oneself-to-finish-a-PhD/answer/Venkatesh-Rao
http://www.quora.com/History/What-is-the-most-important-human-decision-ever-made/answer/Venkatesh-Rao
http://www.quora.com/Is-the-following-follower-model-the-new-standard-of-social-connection/answer/Venkatesh-Rao
http://www.quora.com/What-discipline-specific-principles-help-reframe-activities-so-as-to-provide-useful-insights-and-or-improvement
Rader:
http://onthespiral.com/stop-wasting-time-and-effort-developing-fragile-capabilities
http://onthespiral.com/unifying-value-universe
http://onthespiral.com/principles-disruptive-learning-environments
Lemire:
http://lemire.me/blog/archives/2010/08/16/working-long-hours-is-stupid
http://www.daniel-lemire.com/blog/archives/2010/02/08/trading-latency-for-quality-in-research
http://www.daniel-lemire.com/blog/archives/2009/09/14/how-things-change-cheaters-are-innovators
http://www.daniel-lemire.com/blog/archives/2008/08/19/the-secret-to-intellectual-productivity/
http://www.daniel-lemire.com/blog/archives/2010/01/13/the-fundamental-properties-of-computing/
http://www.daniel-lemire.com/blog/archives/2007/12/05/formal-definitions-are-less-useful-than-you-think/
http://www.daniel-lemire.com/blog/archives/2007/11/19/directed-research-is-useless/
http://lemire.me/blog/archives/2006/08/09/big-schools-are-not-longer-giving-researchers-an-edge/
http://lemire.me/blog/archives/2011/06/23/probabilities-are-unnecessary-mathematical-artifacts
http://lemire.me/blog/archives/2011/06/14/the-language-interpreters-are-the-new-machines
http://www.daniel-lemire.com/blog/archives/2009/08/01/why-i-hardly-ever-blog-about-my-ongoing-research/
http://lemire.me/blog/archives/2011/06/08/is-wikipedia-anti-intellectual
http://www.daniel-lemire.com/blog/archives/2008/06/05/why-pure-theory-is-wasteful
http://lemire.me/blog/archives/2011/06/06/why-i-still-program