/Tech2h ago

New investigation of Leverage Research sparks debate over the group's legacy in early Bay Area tech and AI culture

Former members defend the group's philosophical exploration against cult-like characterizations.

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Positive users praise a former member's account of Leverage Research as an early AI optimism hub and Geoff Anders' thinking methods, while one dismisses critics' problems as unsurprising.

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Riva@rivatez

fwiw i'm one of the few people who had their minds directly charted by Geoff as per his connection theory described in this piece. I've shared all my most vulnerable fuzzy beliefs with him over dozens (maybe hundreds?) of hours. Did he take advantage of it? No, he challenged them and added rigour, made me a better thinker

Long after Levarage, I still utilised Geoff as an 'epistemology coach"

I strongly recommend befriending Geoff Anders if you get the chance and, at the very least, reading his work.

His summary of Wolfram's research is great, as was his Scientific Bottlenecks work, all up on the Leverage Research website. His current quantum biology research is also v cool

People froth at the chance to tear a great man down. Not on my watch

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Nina@NinaPanickssery

@rivatez When someone is “outed” as a cult leader or otherwise “harmful”, empirically I think this is a much bigger update about the “victims” than about the guy. ie. cults work be identifying already crazy/unstable/impressionable/weak people.

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Nina@NinaPanickssery

@rivatez Like I can easily believe people go crazy from various rituals and practices but that’s because they’re vulnerable to start and would probably be unhappy a bunch anyway since they lack mental resilience, a key skill for a good life.

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José Luis Ricón Fernández de la Puente@ArtirKel

@rivatez Wow you too were a leverager! Truly a modern Vienna hah

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quetzal_rainbow@quetzal_rainbow

@NinaPanickssery @rivatez Sure, but "not participating in potentially harmful psychological developments" is a large part of mental resilience, so it's hard to evaluate counterfactual

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Hamad@HamadXBT

@rivatez Big facts

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Riva@rivatez

@NinaPanickssery yes i am not suprised by the people who had problems and i wouldnt be suprised if they still had problems lol

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Hamad@HamadXBT

@rivatez This is impressive

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