My point is that using "instrumentally rational in the field of x" in the sense of "does what it takes to win at x" doesn't really interact with the topic of this thread, which is about the wishy-washy demography of the Less Wrong community (i.e. "us").
I'm not casting doubt on Usain Bolt's methods, but I am casting doubt on the suggestion that those methods being "instrumentally rational" makes him likely to be reading this.
I didn't read passive_fist's comment as implying that the successful politicians are likely to read Less Wrong, but that a rationalist wouldn't be able to use their superior rationality to win an election - thus answering the question "why don't more people like us stand for public office?" with "we probably wouldn't win against typical politicians", which is how the comment is relevant.
Has no one else mentioned this on LW yet?
Elizabeth Edwards has been elected as a New Hampshire State Rep, self-identifies as a Rationalist and explicitly mentions Less Wrong in her first post-election blog post.
Sorry if this is a repost