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by PaulHoule 977 days ago
"Sequences" and other Yudkowksy writings are long and incoherent not by accident but by design.

The point is to drive away anybody who has faculties of critical thinking. It's like those ads you see on the internet where they tell you that "TINNITUS IS DESTROYING YOUR BRAIN" or tell you what intermittent fasting plan is right for your shoe size and then send you to some two and a half long video that is there to weed out anybody who isn't incredibly credulous and after all that you find out it is some lame-ass supplement. Or it is like those poorly spelled letters that tell you the widow of some African dictator wants to to send you $15 million by Western Union.

Someone who's gotten through all that really is someone vulnerable who can be wrapped around someone's finger. People who are good at critical thinking aren't looking for the secret to become good critical thinkers.

2 comments

Woah, that's a very cynical take! He made them obtuse on purpose? You're not wrong that I found the Sequences extremely challenging, and didn't get through all of them. But I thought he wrote HPMOR to make the lessons more accessible, and I found that much easier to read.

Isn't it simpler to explain the situation by assuming he just got better at writing over time, and that stories teach lessons better than essays? It doesn't require a conspiracy to explain what you see.

Do you have any evidence that this is true other than the fact you SuperDisagree with the text as written?