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Essay:Skeptics vs Tech-Rationalists
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This essay is an original work by ClickerClock. It does not necessarily reflect the views expressed in RationalWiki's Mission Statement, but we welcome discussion of a broad range of ideas. Unless otherwise stated, this is original content, released under CC-BY-SA 3.0 or any later version. See RationalWiki:Copyrights. Feel free to make comments on the talk page, which will probably be far more interesting, and might reflect a broader range of RationalWiki editors' thoughts. |
There seem to be many types of Rationalists. In fact there seem to be two main types: Scientific Skeptics and Tech-Rationalists. Unfortunately the pair often get mixed up. The opposing sides seem to despise each other. There is only one famous person that could be described as both: Richard Dawkins and that's stretching it.
| Aspects | Scientific Skeptics | Tech-Rationalists |
|---|---|---|
| Archetypal Figure | Harriet A. Hall | Elon Musk |
| Politics | All over the spectrum. If politics conflict, there is either a fight, or avoidance. | Libertarian, Egalitarian. Politics don't often conflict but if they do, both sides are more willing to engage in polite discussion and the conflicting politics are more moderate. |
| Focus | Promoting Skepticism, debunking unscientific falsehoods | Effective Altruism, Artificial Intelligence, Improving the World |
| Criticism from the other side | Assholes | Out of touch with reality. Ridiculous. |
| Walks of Life | More diverse. Both a white man and an Indian woman are willing to chat happily about how wrong anti-vaxxers are. There is a majority of white men. | Mostly white or light-skinned rich men. |
| Archetypal Website | Skeptic's Dictionary | LessWrong |
| Mutualities | Pro-Critical thinking, both want the world to be better, reliance on science | |