knb comments on This Failing Earth - Less Wrong

19 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 24 May 2009 04:09PM

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Comment author: CronoDAS 26 May 2009 07:51:32PM 4 points [-]

I see him as an eloquent crank. He's so far out from the mainstream that I can't really endorse anything he says, but he serves as a kind of sanity check, because he makes well crafted (and, sometimes, well-cited) arguments against things people usually take for granted.

(One complaint that I do have, however, is his focus on rising crime rates. The general historical trend in homicide rates has been a steady decrease.)

Comment author: knb 27 May 2009 12:39:34AM 4 points [-]

I agree with this. I think his writings reek of "dark side epistemology". He uses a lot of florid, non-precise, language filled with obscure references that seemed designed to instill reverence rather than educate.

The irony is that I agree with him about many things, but I can't stand him because he seems far too overconfident about the accuracy of his shocking claims.