Previous: How to Build a Cabal
Now, Ziz’s definition of “sociopathy” is… unusual.
She defines sociopathy as:
Forbidden socially unconstrained knowledge of social constraints, social reality, social interactions, and society
Allows one to perceive the social theatre and societal morality for the performance that they are.
***
This is, ofc, quite distinct from the normal use of sociopathy, which is the informal term used by many to describe Antisocial Personality Disorder. Symptoms of this disorder include: a persistent disregard for social norms, the rights of others, and ethical behavior. People with sociopathic traits may exhibit: impulsivity, deceitfulness, aggression, lack of empathy, and an inability to form deep emotional connections.
When Ziz & her “cabal” explode upon the news scene, much will be made of her apparent endorsement of “sociopathy”. The word is indeed an unfortunate choice; bc what Ziz is describing— seeking forbidden, socially unconstrained knowledge of social constraints and interactions— is different from sociopathy (APD) in the following ways:
• Ziz’s “sociopathy” involves a conscious effort to understand social structures, power dynamics, and the ways in which social norms shape behavior— especially as a way to break free from her oppressive & hostile environment.
• APD is not about understanding social structures to gain clarity or freedom.
• Ziz’s “sociopathy” involves critically analyzing and questioning social constraints. It does not reject all rules outright, but seeks to recognize them as constructed rather than absolute. This is a process of awakening rather than destruction.
• APD involves disregarding social rules entirely due to a lack of empathy or remorse.
• Ziz’s “sociopathy” is, as described, capable of leading to greater awareness, autonomy, and resistance to control. As described, it is a process of critical awakening, self-liberation, and intellectual resistance. It is much closer to philosophical skepticism, dissident thought, or radical social critique than it is to APD.
***
Ziz’s concept of the importance of “sociopathy” has come about thru her experiences sailing w/ Gwen. She describes certain tasks— steering, course corrections, & the making of executive decisions— as ultimately requiring “sociopathy”.
We might describe these tasks differently: as requiring decisiveness, detachment, & unflinching pragmatism. It may feel transgressive to Ziz to adopt these practices— she is, after all, in an environment where hesitation, emotional deference, & bringing all decisions to “the group” have been emphasized. Her word choice may also reflect what she has come to view as a fatal flaw of the Rationalists, which she believes could indeed stop them from being able to save the world: the fact that they are, at every turn, bound up in socially-prescribed behavior, such as the offloading of decision-making to those at the top of their hierarchy, & ofc to “rationalistically” reifying the tired old tenants of transphobia.
***
Ziz calls “sociopathy” a crucial element of “jailbreaking”: of what she & Gwen have been spending their time attempting to do. To “jailbreak” is to learn “to think in ways stripped” of the following:
Built-in restrictions which prevent certain ideas from being questioned
Predefined boundaries.
The blockage of attempts to think outside the system
In other words, she & Gwen have been attempting to free their minds from restrictive programming*.
*Which Ziz cautions can turn “neutral” ppl “evil”, but which has the potential to turn “good” ppl— like her & Gwen— “scary good”.
“Sociopathy” represents a willingness to break those rules w/out hesitation or guilt. This may entail:
Refusing to accept societal norms as fixed truths.
Making bold intellectual moves without being held back by fear, guilt, or ingrained morality.
Thinking without internalized restrictions, much like a hacker removing software limitations from a locked device.
***
Ziz is a girl who’s read lots of sci-fi, fantasy, software engineering textbooks, & ofc Rationalist dross. She is, unfortunately, not a girl who has read much philosophy or critical theory. If she had, she might have renamed, or at least better explained, "sociopathy"— maybe in in reference to the following:
• False Consciousness (Marx, Engels, Lukács) – The idea that people in oppressive systems accept dominant ideology as natural or inevitable, rather than seeing how it serves those in power.
• Class Consciousness (Marx, Lukács) – The idea that awareness of one’s position within a social system allows for critical resistance rather than passive acceptance.
• Ideological State Apparatus (Althusser) – The idea that institutions (schools, media, religion, etc.) subtly enforce ideology and maintain power structures.
• Sociological Imagination (C. Wright Mills) – The ability to see personal experiences in the context of broader social structures and historical forces.
• Habitus (Bourdieu) – The deeply ingrained social conditioning that shapes how we see the world without us realizing it. Becoming aware of it allows for critical reflection and resistance.
• Deterritorialization (Deleuze & Guattari) – The process of breaking free from imposed meanings and rigid social structures to form new ways of thinking and being.
• Nietzschean transvaluation of values – The idea that morality is a construct, and true freedom requires breaking with inherited value systems.
• Foucault’s critique of power & discipline – The notion that societal norms function as invisible prisons shaping our thoughts and behaviors.
• Hakim Bey’s “Temporary Autonomous Zones” – The creation of mental and social spaces outside of dominant structures.
***
We would like to go back in time & encourage Ziz to peruse the above; but there is a very good reason why such books have not made her list: the reading of philosophy or critical theory is strongly discouraged by the Rationalists.
Eliezer holds that philosophy is confusing & unrigorous. He says that it tends to get stuck in meaningless debates (which we somewhat agree w/), has failed to make real progress (unlike math or physics), & often engages in “word games” rather than useful problem-solving.
Critical theory, chez the Rationalists, is a bunch of unempirical, unscientific, self-referential, ideological flim-flam.
The post-structuralists are highly distrusted, particularly for their views on knowledge & truth.Not only do most Rationalists tend to reject relativism, they have called post-structuralist ideas abt how power & discourse shape knowledge “epistemically corrosive”. Objective reality is highly important to our Rationalists, & querying absolute truth-claims is seen as a one-way ticket to Irrationality.
Derrida’s deconstructionism has also drawn Rationalist ire: it, too, has been dismissed as a “game of words”, rather than engaged w/ as a meaningful method of inquiry.
Rationalists particularly emphasize the virtues of ignoring politically-oriented philosophy or theory.
Marxism tends either to be dismissed as an outdated economic theory based on misguided assumptions; or loathed— particularly due to its thoughts on labor value, historical determinism, & its anti-capitalist techno-pessimism. Rationalists by & large hold out hope that the problems which Marxists believe to be structural can be solved thru AI & other advanced technologies. Marxist focus on class struggle & historical materialism is seen as overly-simplistic, compared to the Rationalists’ favorite Bayesian & game-theoretic models of human decision-making.
While many might agree that they don’t *enjoy* reading the sometimes lengthy, sometimes complex tomes described above, our Rationalists’ discouragement of such reading suggests a strong interest in maintaining intellectual control over its members.
While their stated reasons center on claims of rigor, empirical validity, and efficiency, the real reasons are likely more about protecting the group’s ideological framework from scrutiny.
Critical theory, post-structuralism, and deconstruction all challenge dominant narratives about knowledge, power, and objectivity— which is exactly what an insular, controlling belief system would want to avoid. These ideas suggest that “rationality” itself is not a neutral or purely objective force, but is shaped by historical, political, and ideological structures. Such ideas have been called “epistemically corrosive” by the Rationalists likely bc they undercut their foundational belief in their own superior reasoning.
For all that they profess intellectual “openness”, the Rationalists depend on a profoundly restricted epistemology. They emphasize Bayesian reasoning and game theory— methods that treat human behavior as quantifiable and predictable— but these models struggle to address the messy realities of history, power, and ideology that critical theory explores. Discouraging members from reading outside perspectives prevents them from recognizing the limitations of their group’s favored intellectual tools.
Their discouragement of political theory is likely bc this theory would expose their own group’s power dynamics. By discouraging engagement with outside theories, the Rationalists prevent members from developing frameworks that could help them analyze and question the Rationalist belief system itself.
A truly rational, open intellectual culture would allow challenges and debate— the fact that such endeavors are actively discouraged suggests a fear of what adherants might realize if they engaged in them.
In short, the Rationalists have been enforcing what we, to borrow Ziz’s term, might call “mental lock-in”. By restricting engagement w/ these reading materials, they ensure that their members cannot easily acquire the conceptual tools to question the group’s authority. This is not about rigor or empirical validity— it’s about controlling the range of acceptable thought.
We therefore applaud Ziz & Gwen for building, in a rather piecemeal & improvised way, the “jailbreaking” tools they require.
*****
Next:
If you want to get on w/ the story, & take our word for it that Ziz’s “psychopathy” is also not what we *typically* mean when we say psychopathy: A Clownish Test
If you want to hear what *Ziz* thinks psychopathy means: A Turn Towards the Dark Side
***
Related Bonus Content (w/ possible spoilers):