Just sneering at a couple of comments, mostly the first.

This situation is best modeled by conflict theory, not mistake theory.

I thought rationalists were supposed to be strict mistake theorists (in their own terms). Seeing someone here essentially say, “Their opposition to us can’t be resolved simply, just like how issues in the world are complex and not simple mistakes,” when they actually believe (as any good liberal/nxr would) that any societal issue is a simple mistake to be corrected is… weird.

Since that does not seem likely to be the sort of answer you’re looking for though, if I wanted to bridge the inferential gap with a hypothetical Sneer Clubber who genuinely cared about truth, or indeed about anything other than status (which they do not)

This is the finest copium. Pure, uncut. Yes, I’m here to “boost my status” by collecting internet points. Everyone knows my name and keeps track of how cool I am. I don’t sleep in a hotel and I own triples of every classic car. Triples makes it safe.

If you think that the conventional way to approach the world is usually right, the rationalist community will seem unusually stupid. We ignore all this free wisdom lying around and try to reinvent the wheel! If the conventional wisdom is correct, then concerns about the world changing, whether due to AI or any other reason, are pointless. If they were important, conventional wisdom would already be talking about them.

Hey, don’t try to position yourselves as the plucky underdog/maverick here. That’s a culture war move, and you aren’t allowed to do that!

/r/SneerClub users are not the sort of entities with whom you can have that conversation. You might as well ask a group of chimpanzees why they’re throwing shit at you.

LW talking to us would be more like this: a group of chimpanzees is throwing shit at some LWers. The LWers ask the chimps why. The chimps explain, using everyday language and concepts, that they think the worldview of the LWers is wrong and skewed in weird directions, and that any time someone tries to explain this, the chimps are met with condescension and the accusation that they can’t understand the LWers because they are chimps. So in protest, the chimps explain they throw shit. The LWers shrug and say they can’t understand what the chimps are saying, because they are chimps and chimps can’t speak human language. The chimps continue to throw shit.

I think Sneer Club understands the Less Wrong worldview well enough. They just happen to reject it.

Least wrong LWer.

I think Sneer Club understands the Less Wrong worldview well enough. They just happen to reject it.

One of the few comments that actually make sense to me here.

I would also tell them that it’s possible to actually understand things. Most people seem to go through life on rote, seemingly not recognizing when something doesn’t make sense because they don’t expect anything to make sense.

Oh my god could you sound any more flushable.

Just fuck yourself. Everybody is thinking all of the fucking time, everybody has blindspots, stop being so insufferable.

They’re so obsessed with this narrative that keeps them ahead of the curve, guess what ex gifted kids? Other people catch up, you’re not competing with 4 year olds anymore.

My god some spectacularly bad takes on here. The top-rated one is just bananas-level stupid:

While there may be a substantial worldview gap, I suspect the much larger difference is that most Sneer Clubbers are looking to boost their status by trying to bully anyone who looks like a vulnerable target, and being different, as LessWrong is, is enough to qualify.

Yes, that’s right. I spend my time boosting my status by (checks notes) commenting on the internet.