[TremendousJudge]

the comment about MIRI being a doomsday cult was exactly right. yudkowsky lost what little credibility he had left when he argued for the bombing of datacenters. as is (correctly, imo) argued by the essay, reading what they have to say is like reading arguments by heaven's gate

[pixl97]

> when he argued for the bombing of datacenters

Kind of ironic that bombing of data centers is exactly what we're starting to see in conflicts now.

[Jach]

EY has said that if diplomacy fails, nations talking to nations, then bombing datacenters becomes the sort of action that's very much on the table. Much like bombing nuclear enrichment sites is on the table after diplomacy fails. He has repeatedly spoken against vigilante acts of violence against datacenters and/or researchers.

Somehow I doubt this will change your mind, so I feel like replying was a waste and I should have left it at rolling my eyes. In theory I'm sympathetic to the view, as I chose to avoid ever going to a local (Seattle-area) LW meetup many years ago after hearing they would start each meeting with a "prayer" (they call them "litanies"), the IRC room was fine enough for me, and I've at times thought some of the Bay Area activity I've heard about seemed not far removed from a sex cult. I don't like groups in general. Regardless, it's still obvious to me that MIRI is not a cult nor EY a cult leader. Line up 10 characteristics of cults and you'll see things don't match up well. Where are the strange evidence-free historical beliefs? Where is the doctrine that only the special few will be saved? Where is the blatant supernaturalism? Where are the calls to renounce jobs, money, possessions, family? From TFA, "These [UFO] people are wearing funny robes and beads, they live in a remote compound, and they speak in unison in a really creepy way." Where are these things? Comparing to Heaven's Gate is insane, it's like comparing Robert Frost to U.S. Code Title 26.