Story
My falling-out with the rationalist community
1 report
1 website
1 discussion
Latest report
Overview
The author experienced a falling-out with the rationalist community, influenced by events such as the arrest of financier Sam Bankman-Fried and a 2025 scandal involving the Zizians, a group accused of sex and murder. This disillusionment led to a reluctance to publicly address these issues until now.
Summary from lcamtuf.substack.com.
Reports
One report so far. Additional coverage will appear here when it is linked to this story.
lcamtuf.substack.com
My falling-out with the rationalist community
Read report →
Community reactions
Each reaction summarizes sampled comments from the linked discussion.
Hacker News · lcamtuf.substack.com
Hacker News discussion ↗
Historical count: 5 · 5 saved in sample · Historical sample
Analysis ready
Read this discussion’s reaction
Based on 5 sampled comments from this thread. Analyzed 2026-07-21.
- Praise: The rationalist community initially attracted people with its emphasis on reason and evidence-based skepticism, which are crucial ideas that have stood the test of time.
- Praise: Some commenters appreciate the diversity of thought within the rationalist community, noting that discussions can lead to significant changes in personal beliefs.
- Concern: Rationalism is dismissed by some as a secular religion, complete with dogmas and schisms that undermine its credibility.
- Concern: Critics argue the rationalist community often resorts to post hoc justifications, revealing a lack of true rationality in their arguments.
- Concern: There’s a pervasive sentiment that many rationalists rely on intuition and anecdotes just like anyone else, which contradicts their claims of seeking scientific truth.