To people like scientism, it feels obvious that this kind of squickiness is just bad and ugly-looking, but to yourself and pjeby, it doesn't seem so apparent.
To be clear: I haven't actually read the profile, only the excerpts posted here. But I'm quite confused as to why Eliezer openly stating an interest in sadism or polyamory would be a problem in any event.
Rationally speaking, the best way to find a partner with matching preferences is to be open and upfront about what it is your preferences are, just in case your potential partner(s) aren't being upfront enough for you to find them.
What's more, societal double standards being what they are, it's generally less costly for a male to state his preferences up front than for a female... not to mention that it's time-saving for all the females who don't share his preferences. Frankly, being as honest and upfront as possible is an altruistic and highly ethical stance to take, because it benefits all of the women who view a person's profile with an eye to dating its author.
And that's is why I'm so utterly baffled by the mudslinging that seems to imply it's, um, unethical? or something.
Edited to add: Just read the actual profile, and I am now updated even more in the direction that I have no clue WTF people are thinking. The sexual bits seem pure and innocent as the driven snow (at least to my own corrupt mind), and even the excessive citation of other people's finding him impressive came off more as insecurity than arrogance. WTF are people complaining about, besides, "some people won't like it"? "Some people won't like it" is a fully general counterargument against doing or saying anything, anywhere, anytime, ever.
I think you're barking up the wrong tree by engaging the specific arguments scientism is making rather than looking at what motivated these arguments in the first place. See this comment by scientism:
...It's not so much the content as the presentation. The tone is incredibly self-absorbed and condescending. I thought the whole thing was a joke until I encountered the above quoted paragraph with its apparent sincerity. Presumably some of the content is intended to be tongue-in-check and some of it posturing, but it's difficult to separate. There's a compoun
Faith, Hope, and Singularity: Entering the Matrix with New York’s Futurist Set
To my knowledge LessWrong hasn't received a great deal of media coverage. So, I was surprised when I came across an article via a Facebook friend which also appeared on the cover of the New York Observer today. However, I was disappointed upon reading it, as I don't think it is an accurate reflection of the community. It certainly doesn't reflect my experience with the LW communities in Toronto and Waterloo.
I thought it would be interesting to see what the broader LessWrong community thought about this article. I think it would make for a good discussion.
Possible conversation topics:
Edit 1: Added some clarification about my view on the article.
Edit 2: Re-added link using “nofollow” attribute.