Comment by gwking

I merely saw the domain name 'yarchive' and had a strange inkling that there might be a connection. A quick search yielded this: https://unlimitedhangout.com/2021/08/investigative-reports/t....

I have no opinion of unlimitedhangout.com or the veracity of that article. But in response to "I just find it strange", I'm beginning to associate this sort of intensely intellectual inquiry into disparate topics with equally intense political positions.

I was first introduced to Urbit as if it was a purely technical, humorous and extremely nerdy lark. It was a joke thing my friend got me to sign up for, to own a slice of an imaginary universe (in a quantity called a "frigate" or whatever it was). When I learned years later about how serious the worldview behind it was, I was quite shocked.

Since then, and especially since the NYT outing of Scott Alexander in 2020, I've become more attuned to the pattern. These hyper-analytical blogs often come with a lot of political implications below the surface.

Again, I'm not taking sides here. If anything, the takeaway for me is that the world is very complicated. We have these rare polymath personalities who go deep into topics, have a strong voice on the internet, and they end up with all sorts of valid criticisms of the status quo. This in turn can align with extreme political views.