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by ccarterlandis 1976 days ago
> psuedo-intellectuals

This is so deliciously ironic.

> runs a psychiatry called "Lorien", lives in a group-housing-community called "Valinor"

Um...okay? What's your point? That those are funny names? No one gives a damn what they're called, and I fail to see what the problem is with running a psychiatry or living in a housing community. Do you also hate on ophthalmologists that run their own firms and college students living in community dorms too? Or what about all those monks and nuns that live in group housing and also practice medicine? Nothing about either of those things implies any amount of instability, or lack of adjustment.

> are his opinions on all the countless fields and topics he writes about (in implied expert capacity) worth listening to?

I don't think anyone is arguing that Scott is necessarily an expert of many of the subjects he covers, least of all himself. I think he's made it abundantly clear over the years that this is a side gig for him that he does for fun, and do broaden his understanding of the world. Even if he isn't an "expert", that doesn't mean he can't still do research and blog about it. Do you think that no one should ever talk or write about anything that they are not a world-class expert in? Cause that sounds really, really boring, and also basically impossible. From the first post on his new blog[0]:

> And finally, the highlight of my last blog was its loyal and active readership, who constantly corrected my errors, resolved my lingering questions, and inspired most of "my" best ideas.

To me, this doesn't sound like something a world-class expert would be saying. But hey, I'm not an expert on experts, so my opinion is invalid, right?

It's not my intent to convince you to like him, but I think you are exactly the type of person Scott had in mind when he wrote his first ever SSC post about emphasizing charity over absurdity[1]. It's okay if you don't like Scott's writing, and it's okay if you don't think he's worth listening to, but I just hope you slow down and try to genuinely understand why people might like his writing, and focus on those reasons for your argument instead of leaving an inflammatory comment making only very surface-level arguments. I would very much like to practice charity as well and genuinely understand why you don't like his writing, but when your argument boils down to "he's a neckbeard blogger who has opinions about many things", you're not giving me much to work with.

[0]: https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/youre-probably-wonderi... [1]: https://slatestarcodex.com/2013/02/12/youre-probably-wonderi...

2 comments

I can see OP's point, if I found out my psychiatrist lives in some hipster housing community named after a word from Lord of the Rings, I'd just laugh and go to a different psychiatrist.
When I made my comment above, I didn't know Valinor was from LoTR, and I do see now why that would be kind of weird to some people. That part of comment was overly aggressive, and I should have done more research into the community and the name before I made my comment. My apologies for my tone, and for not doing my part to be informed.

However, personally, I still don't think it makes sense as an argument, for a few reasons. For one, I doubt he came up with that name - hell, unless I missed something, I don't even know if Scott actually likes LoTR. In most cases, the name of the housing community would not even be a consideration I would make when determining to live there, as the cost/amenities/location are far more important, so even if he is a LoTR fan, I highly doubt that the name was a factor in why he lives there. Maybe Scott's priorities for housing differ, but I've not seen anything that would indicate that.

EDIT: Not sure how to do a strikethrough on HN, but I just found out "Lorien" is also from LoTR, so I think it's safe to assume that Scott is a LoTR fan in some regard, and did probably have a hand in naming the housing community, and that my assumptions in the above paragraph are incorrect. I don't want to delete them, for context, so I'll just leave this edit here. However, I still don't think that matters; what matters (to me) is his professional competence.

Second, it doesn't matter to me where my psychiatrist lives. They're a psychiatrist, not a real estate agent. I also don't think my psychiatrist liking LoTR would a bad thing. All I care about is that they do their job well, and while I understand your concerns about it being a "hipster" housing community and the possibility of it signaling my psychiatrist's values, extrapolating their professional performance from their housing choice seems like a bit of a stretch in this case.

> That those are funny names? No one gives a damn what they're called

Well, in my case I would care and psychiatry being called "Lorien" would in my case be a strong positive sign.

Not guarantee of anything, but indicator that some values/opinions/taste may be shared.

Just found out "Lorien" is also from LoTR, so I now see your point. I was far too hasty in my original comment and didn't do the proper due diligence to understand what I was talking about. While I still don't feel the names matter, I do now definitely understand why some people feel that they do matter. My apologies.
No apologies needed :) I just wanted to give another view on that issue.