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Hereticon
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Hereticon is a series of events for fringe figures and social media personalities to network and exchange brainworms. It was funded by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and is organized by Peter Thiel protege Mike Solana.[1] The first call for proposals promised it would not be a safe space.[2] The graphic design emphasized psychedlic, Biblical, and occult imagery. Other similar events in the USA during the COVID era include Vibecamp (hard to describe but sort of like a summer camp and sometimes associated with TPOT, an amorphous twitter community) and Manifest (prediction markets + LessWrong).
Hereticon 1[edit]
The original Hereticon was announced in 2019 but delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] Speakers at the January 2022 event in Miami included people curious about UFOs:[4]
- Mike Seid of the Orb Summoners project who believes he can summon UFOs[5]
- Luis Elizondo
, who believes that UFOs are neither of human origin nor optical illusions and sensor failures[6]
- Nick Pope (journalist)
, a British-American UFO enthusiast
- Deep Prasad, a young Canadian engineer and businessman[7] who had a strange experience that he understood as alien abduction[8]
- Aaron VanDevender, "founder and CEO of Methid, a biology automation company that uses AI to improve the veracity and productivity of biomedical research and diagnostics," on aliens[9]
LessWrong, Effective Altruism, and related movements:
- Aella, an active LessWronger who helps organize stories of abuse at offshoots such as Leverage Research[10] and the Zizians[11]
- Liv Boeree
, British science communicator, poker player, and Effective Altruist
- Geoff Anders, formerly of the LessWrong offshoot Leverage Research which reinvented Scientology from first principles (mingling with him and Aella sounds awkward!)[12]
space advocacy and big engineering:
- Robert Zubrin
, aerospace engineer and advocate of human missions to Mars
- Russ George
, businessman and geoengeering enthusiast
- Isabelle Boemeke
, a Brazilian-American fashion model and nuclear advocate
eugenics and natalism:
- Diana Fleischman, an eugenicist
- Geoffrey Miller (psychologist)
, eugenics-curious evolutionary psychologist and husband to Diana Fleischman
- Noor Sidiqui on natalism. Sidiqui founded a company called Orchid which offers to test embryos for genetic risks and select based on the test, colleagues have ethical and practical questions[13] and she does not like the word eugenics.[14] She is a onetime Thiel Fellow who calls Paul Graham's "What you Can't Say" one of her favorite essays so she must have fit right in.[15]
- Brit Benjamin on natalism. A piece on her 2018 wedding to a software developer mentions seasteading, Ayn Rand, Burning Man, transhumanism, Paleo diets, rationalism, cryogenics (a typo for cryonics?), and life-extension which must have been a lot for a wedding columnist to process.[16]
- Max Berry and Tammy Winter on natalism
questionable medicine:
- Robert W. Malone
, a MD and biochemist who insists that he invented MRNA vaccines and the people who adapted them for COVID-19 are doing it wrong
- Soylent founder John Coogan on the benefits of nicotine (especially when taken through products he sells)[17][18]
- Steve Fuller, a transhumanist sociologist and philosopher of science who offered a defense of intelligent design in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District (American despite working for the University of Warwick)[19][20]
- Rick Sternberg, an evolutionary biologist with a talk on whale biology who let an intelligent-design-friendly paper through peer review[21]
finance and crypto:
- Trevor McFedries
, a cryptocurrency-friendly musician
- Cyan Banister
, a genderqueer Libertarian angel investor
- Peter Thiel, the Moriarty to RationalWiki's Sherlock
- Tyler Cowen, professor and economics blogger
- Mitch Horowitz
, a writer and speaker on occult topics connected to Solana through past jobs with the publisher TarcherPerigee.[22] This year he picked parapsychology with a talk called "Case Closed: ESP is Real."[23]
- John Valentino, an old-school parapsychologist in Princeton[24]
- Albert Nerenberg
, Canadian hypnotist
- Mwiya Muskokotwane, Zambian investor[25]
- Patri Friedman
, American investor and Libertarian activist
- Devon Zuegel, American journalist and software developer[26]
- Erick Brimen, Venuzuelan-American businessman who launched the charter city of Próspera in Honduras[27][28][29]
and miscellaneous topics:
- Bret Weinstein, a podcaster of manysplendoured woo
- Cody Wilson
, a 3D-printed-firearms enthusiast
- Robby Soave
, a journalist at the Libertarian website Reason
- Jo Zayner
(they/them), a trans or nonbinary biohacker[30]
- Kmele Foster
, a podcaster and telecommunications executive
As well as some harmless-sounding characters such as Laci Green, a sex educator and mental health counsellor who has produced vlogs and podcasts, Tim Urban of the Wait but Why blog, and Megan Phelps-Roper, who broke away from the Westboro Baptist Church (yay).
Curtis Yarvin was not on the program but present.[31] Its like the American side of RationalWiki's Category: Living Persons came to life! Solana published a retrospective on the Libertarian website Reason and rejoyced in freedom from "a bunch of crazy lunatics who two years ago had a lot more control of the internet conversation."[32] Even his interviewer gave some gentle pushback on Solana's statement that a great example of wrongful deplatforming was twitter expelling Donald J. Trump after the capitol putsch.
They're back![edit]
Another Hereticon was held in Miami from 28 to 31 October 2024.[33] The call for proposals hinted at Nick Land's effective accelerationism without using that phrase (the belief that if we set the engineers and businesses free without pesky regulations or tedious consultations, utopia will result). It also focused on themes and people beloved by Libertarians and the social media right such as geoengineering, seasteading (on icebergs!), life extension, evolutionary psychology, trad wives, the supposed immanent Islamization of Europe ("The only measures that can prevent this Islamic takeover of Europe, according to the speaker, is deportation"),[34][35] Raw Egg Nationalist, Italian mathematician and model Pietro Boselli, US annexation of Greenland (Hereticon was in to it before it was cool!), climate change as good, corporal punishment as good, MKULTRA, sex magic,[36] and the epistemology of psychiatric diagnosis.[37][38] Curtis Yarvin and Quillette founder Claire Lehmann were speakers.[39] Elon Musk's onetime partner Grimes DJed a set.[40][41]
Connoisseurs of whitecollar people rationalizing ideas you can hear in any dive bar will recall that Scott Alexander listed "the superiority of corporal punishment to our current punishment system" among "importantly correct neoreactionary stuff" in a private email and pointed to Robin Hanson as a fellow believer.[42]
Response[edit]
Blogger Max Read was not amused:
Please leave the real crank stuff to the pros. The Hereticon crowd is more than welcome to natalism and polyamory, but if you have any affection at all for the aesthetics or substance of crank science and conspiracy theory, it's a bummer to see it taken up by such a preening, self-conscious, eager crew. Ancient astronauts and ESP (I assume that's what the "High-Bandwidth Non-Verbal Communication" talk on Wednesday was about) used to be the domain of authentic weirdos and obsessives; now it's what venture capitalists and right-wing Substack columnists use as a badge to demonstrate their broad-mindedness.[43]
It is especially worrisome that this event brings together eugenics, racialism, and bioengineering. In Silicon Valley the combination goes back to William Shockley the co-inventor of the transistor. 'Move fast and break things' gets ugly when what you break is babies.
Speakers and topics have been very very American with the occasional Brit or Canadian. Cryptozoology and ghost hunting have not had much of a presence, maybe because they appeal to American men without college educations and Solana wants an audience with more power.[44] Strange places and mysterious disappearances are also off the program. Not every speaker has a twitter profile and a Substack blog, but most do.
Sex sells[edit]
Hanging out with eugenicists and Libertarians can be a drag after the first few minutes of "taxes suck, right! the wrong people are having so many babies, yep." Solana tried to liven up the events with live music, dance parties, tattooing, drag shows, and promises that the connecting did not end with exchanging email addresses and Twitter handles:
There were lectures, there were performances, there was, randomly and happily, a marriage. Two babies were conceived at the event, two more because of it (that we know of), and new ideas were shared in quantities at least as great as drinks consumed. Obviously, we’re doing it again.[45]
It is not clear if mating with Hereticon speakers is eugenic or dysgenic, but fortunately their biohackers don't decide who gets to reproduce yet.
See also[edit]
- Vitalia: this 2024 conference on Roatán Island, Honduras had an interest in biotechnology, Anomaly as a speaker, and is at a site which Brimen was formerly involved in
References[edit]
- ↑ Megan Hernbroth, "Peter Thiel's venture fund just announced Hereticon, a conference for 'troublemakers' to discuss immortality, doomsday prepping, and UFOs," Business Insider, 1 October 2019 https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-vc-firm-founders-fund-hereticon-conference-immortality-ufo-2019-10
- ↑ Founders Fund, "Hereticon," medium.com, 1 October 2019 https://medium.com/@foundersfund/hereticon-2bb9b23928d5
- ↑ Founders Fund, "Postponing Hereticon," medium.com 16 March 2020 https://medium.com/@foundersfund/postponing-hereticon-f404c3b49cf1
- ↑ https://twitter.com/micsolana/status/1480565456742371331/photo/1 archived https://archive.is/5nj7D
- ↑ George Knapp, Duncan Phenix, and Matt Adams, "Meet the 'Summoners'," Mystery Wire, 13 July 2021 https://www.mysterywire.com/ufo/the-summoners/
- ↑ Jason Colavito, "Review of 'Immanent' by Luis Elizondo," 20 August 2024 https://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/review-of-imminent-by-luis-elizondo
- ↑ https://www.genmat.xyz/team-partners/deep-prasad
- ↑ George Knapp, "The experience: Deep Prasad reveals details of his encounter," Mystery Wire, 25 February 2020 https://www.mysterywire.com/ufo/the-experience-deep-prasad-reveals-details-of-his-encounter/
- ↑ "About Us" https://methid.com/about
- ↑ Zoe Curzi, "My Experience with Leverage Research," medium.com 12 October 2021 https://medium.com/@zoecurzi/my-experience-with-leverage-research-17e96a8e540b#c778
- ↑ Aella, "Zizian Murdercult Summary" https://x.com/Aella_Girl/status/1884481375690223684 archived https://archive.is/IFEoU
- ↑ Zoe Curzi, "My Experience with Leverage Research," medium.com 12 October 2021 https://medium.com/@zoecurzi/my-experience-with-leverage-research-17e96a8e540b#c778
- ↑ Melody Petersen, "A startup says it helps parents pick healthier embryos. Experts say it’s not that simple," Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2021 https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-05-26/a-startup-says-it-helps-parents-pick-healthier-embryos-experts-say-its-not-that-simple
- ↑ Jason Kehe, "This Woman Will Decide Which Babies Are Born," Wired, 10 April 2024 https://www.wired.com/story/this-woman-will-decide-which-babies-are-born-noor-siddiqui-orchid/
- ↑ https://noorsiddiqui.com/about/
- ↑ Rosalie R. Radomsky, "A Commitment for More Than One Lifetime," New York Times, 10 February 2018 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/10/fashion/weddings/a-commitment-for-more-than-one-lifetime.html archived https://archive.is/4J2sH
- ↑ "I believe nicotine is good | John Coogan for Heretics," Freethink YouTube channel, 16 June 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EHE-hHg49k
- ↑ Founders Fund, "Entrepreneur-in-residence John Coogan" https://foundersfund.com/team/john-coogan/
- ↑ https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/sociology/staff/sfuller/
- ↑ Steve Fuller, "Seven Heresies," Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective: Exploring Knowledge as a Social Phenomenon, 23 February 2022 https://social-epistemology.com/2022/02/23/seven-heresies-steve-fuller/
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sternberg_peer_review_controversy
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_Horowitz
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQDILJb9yK8
- ↑ Psyleron: Consciousness Technologies & Research, "About Us" https://support.psyleron.com/aboutus.html archived https://archive.is/nlyAQ
- ↑ "Who is Mwiya Musokotwane?" Zambian Observer, 19 December 2021 https://zambianobserver.com/who-is-mwiya-musokotwane/
- ↑ https://devonzuegel.com/page/about-me
- ↑ https://www.erickbrimen.com/
- ↑ Brian Doherty, "How Erick Brimen Helped Launch a Honduran Charter City," Reason January 2022 https://reason.com/2021/12/28/how-erick-brimen-helped-launch-a-honduran-charter-city/
- ↑ Ian MacDougall and Isabelle Simpson, "A libertarian ‘startup city’ in Honduras faces its biggest hurdle: the locals," Rest of World, 5 October 2021 https://restofworld.org/2021/honduran-islanders-push-back-libertarian-startup/
- ↑ Jo Zayner, Science, Art, Beauty http://www.josiahzayner.com/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/cybersygh/status/1480969161312329739 as cited at https://maxread.substack.com/p/make-alien-abduction-weird-again
- ↑ Peter Suderman, "Mike Solana Wants You To Commit Thoughtcrimes," Reason, June 2022 https://reason.com/2022/05/15/mike-solana-wants-you-to-commit-thoughtcrimes/
- ↑ https://foundersfund.com/2024/02/hereticon-2024/
- ↑ https://www.mindingthecampus.org/2024/11/13/i-attended-hereticon/
- ↑ https://grimes.fandom.com/wiki/Hereticon/2024/DJ_Set
- ↑ Mitch Horowitz, "Magick for Nonbelievers: Mitch Horowitz Speaking at Hereticon, Oct 30, 2024" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXK3yGRNY6s
- ↑ Pirate Wires, "What Went Down at Hereticon II: Apocalypse Ball (Day One)," Pirate Wires, 30 October 2024 https://www.piratewires.com/p/hereticon-ii-apocalypse-ball-day-one-recap
- ↑ Pirate Wires, "What Went Down at Hereticon II: Apocalypse Ball (Day Two)," Pirate Wires, 1 November 2024 https://www.piratewires.com/p/hereticon-ii-apocalypse-ball-day-two-recap?f=home
- ↑ Elizabeth Weiss, "I Attended Hereticon," Minding the Campus: Reforming our Universities, 13 November 2024 https://www.mindingthecampus.org/2024/11/13/i-attended-hereticon/ Weiss' RationalWiki profile is under Aporia Magazine.
- ↑ Elizabeth Weiss, "I Attended Hereticon," Minding the Campus: Reforming our Universities, 13 November 2024 https://www.mindingthecampus.org/2024/11/13/i-attended-hereticon/
- ↑ "Hereticon/2024/DJ Set," Grimes Wiki https://grimes.fandom.com/wiki/Hereticon/2024/DJ_Set
- ↑ The email is transcribed at https://reflectivealtruism.com/2024/10/31/human-biodiversity-part-4-astral-codex-ten/ Alexander neither confirms nor denies having sent this email.
- ↑ Max Read, "Make Alien Abduction Weird Again," https://maxread.substack.com/p/make-alien-abduction-weird-again
- ↑ Sharon A. Hill, Scientifical Americans: The Culture of Amateur Paranormal Researchers (2017)
- ↑ Mike Solana, "The Apocalypse will take place from the evening of October 28th to the morning of October 31st," Founders Fund https://foundersfund.com/2024/02/hereticon-2024/