Rationalist check-list:
- Incorrect use of analogy? Check.
- Pseudoscientific nonsense used to make your point seem more profound? Check.
- Tortured use of probability estimates? Check.
- Over-long description of a point that could just have easily been made in 1 sentence? Check.
This email by SBF is basically one big malapropism.
With the amount of lies, scams, cults and frauds that have been perpetuated in online fandoms, particularly big ones like Harry Potter, I suppose HP fans could spot a cult leader at 10 paces. They certainly had Yudkowsky’s number pretty quickly