Yes, I've never met anyone who stated they have "strong opinions, weakly held" who wasn't A) some kind of arsehole and B) lying.
I’ve met a few people who walked that walk without being assholes … to others. They tended to have a fairly intense amount of self criticism/self hatred, though. That was more palatable than ego, to be sure, but isn’t likely broadly applicable.
Re:Guess I'm a Rationalist Now
by mitthrowaway2 on Thursday June 19, 2025 @12:40PM
(#44320250)
Out of how many such people that you have met?
Re:Guess I'm a Rationalist Now
by lechatonnoir on Friday June 20, 2025 @05:22PM
(#44332231)
Well, yeah, I think it's a pretty socially unaware thing to say about yourself out loud, so that's a pretty strong filter there.
It's rather different for a community to say that's a standard they aspire to, which is a lot less ridiculously grandstanding of a position IMO.
If you want to see how human and tribal rationalists are, go criticize the movement as an outsider. Or try to write a mildly critical NYT piece about them and watch how they react.