Previous: A Callout & More Clowns
Just as Ziz is being discouraged from making her anti-Anna callout post, she finds out* abt another ding to the Rationalists’ reputation.
*She had, in fact, heard of this rumor as early as 2016, but had brushed it off as… just a rumor.
She hears from Michael Vassar— the ex-CEO of MIRI— that, ~4 years prior, MIRI had paid hush money to a transfem who had alleged statutory rape by none other than MIRI founder— & founding father of the Rationalists— Eliezer Yudkowsky.
Eliezer then (allegedly) repaid the favor by covering up for *another* MIRI employee who was accused of rape.
Ziz notes that she’s “not known Vassar to outright lie.” — She adds: “Unless you count espousing fucking BS propaganda about trans women.” She therefore shares Michael’s revelation w/ Gwen, & w/ their friends Somni & Emma.
All four agree that this not only sounds plausible, but— if true— adds one more major piece to the puzzle they have been assembling of systemic transmisogyny chez the Rationalists.
***
A few months prior, Somni had tried to post, to a "Rationalist Feminists" server, a description of this transmisogyny: or, as she puts it, "a description of the dynamics of cissexist communities and their systematic abuse of transfems".
Immediately, a mod said she would delete the post unless Somni could explain *why* she'd posted it to "Rationalist Feminists"— what did it have to do w/ "rationality culture & communication norms"?
Somni explained that it covered issues mainly discussed among trans women, & that she'd decided to post it *here* for cis women to read as well— adding: "It is someone doing rationality on how to have group dynamics that don't hurt people."
On her blog, Gwen excerpts Somni's post, adding that the dynamics it describes are fully present among the Rationalists, if more subtle:
This is about disposability from a trans feminine perspective... It's about being human trash.
This is in defense of the hyper-marginalized among the marginalized.
For years, queer/trans/feminist scenes have been processing an influx of trans fems, often impoverished, disabled, and/or from traumatic backgrounds. These scenes have been abusing them, using them as free labor, and sexually exploiting them.
The leaders of these scenes exert undue influence over... jobs, finance, access to conferences, access to spaces.
If someone resists, they are disappeared, in the mundane, boring, horrible way that many trans people are susceptible to, through a trapdoor that can be activated at any time. Housing, community, reputation- gone.
No one mourns them, no one asks questions. Everyone agrees that they must have been crazy and problematic and that is why they were gone.
The cycle of trans kids being used up and then smeared is a systemic, institutionalized practice.
…The mod deleted the post, calling it “incoherent & off-topic”.
***
W/ all this in mind, Ziz & Gwen start speaking to other Rationalists abt the problems they have noticed w/in their community. Anna, in turn, starts speaking to other Rationalists abt staying away from Ziz & Gwen. It is at this point— as she will say in a later FB post— that she begins “seriously considering saying negative things about Ziz/trying to get her ostracized”.
***
Undaunted, Ziz speaks to the admins of the Rationalists’ major forum— LessWrong*— about making a post to discuss the hush-money allegations. In this post, she also plans to detail Anna’s conduct towards her.
*The founder of LessWrong is— no surprise— Eliezer Yudkowsky. The “benevolent dictator for life” of LessWrong is one Matthew Graves, who also works as a CFAR instructor.
Ziz is told that such a post would be “inappropriate” & “defamation”. All 4 girls— Ziz, Gwen, Somni, & Emma— continue to speak with Rationalists regardless, about everything that we on “Strange New Vegan Death Cult Murders” have covered to date.
It is at this time that the Rationalists begin whispering that the girls’ friend-group is a cult, & that Ziz is their leader.
This is, to our eyes, ironic, since it is, in fact, the Rationalists who have, not infrequently, drawn cult comparisons. Eliezer, w/ his apocalyptic predictions, stubborn insularity, & “Only-I-know” attitude, has drawn extensive criticism for being a cult-like figure. On this topic, the wags over at RationalistWiki have graced us w/ a picture:
A mosey back to pt. 1, pt. 2, & pt. 5 may reveal further traits of the Rationalists which raise the q.: is this a high-control group (HCG)? In addition to what has already been discussed, here is a broad summary of what, chez the Rationalists, sets our HCG alarms ringing.
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Up next:
If you would like to hear the alarm bells: Are the Rationalists a High-Control Group?
If you would like to get on w/ the story: A First Attempt at Blowing the Whistle