Thanks. I'm just an occasional lurker there but your opinion resonated with me (especially the "talking vs doing" and "cultish behaviour" parts). I remember once seeing a comment about someone who stated his intention to start working on AGI get heavily down voted and criticised (as if the rest of the world should stop researching AGI until LW figured out the Safe Way to do it).
as if the rest of the world should stop researching AGI until LW figured out the Safe Way to do it
That's basically MIRI's ethos - basically, once they figure out how to build it safely then everyone will be permitted to go start building it. You can see how ridiculous this is on it's face.
