Scott Alexander's correction on ivermectin and its meaning for the rationalists
I guess &#x27;rationalism&#x27;, as a name, calls a certain kind of person out of the ether:<p>1. They like rationality, and feel it&#x27;s opposed by &#x27;irrationality&#x27;.<p>2. They want to be part of some &#x27;rational group&#x27;.<p>3. They&#x27;re ignorant enough not to know the name is already taken.<p>4. They&#x27;re ignorant enough not to know that the name means pretty much the opposite of what they believe. (A real rationalist, for instance, probably wouldn&#x27;t be interested in modern science).<p>5. They&#x27;re ignorant enough not to know that &#x27;rational&#x27; and &#x27;irrational&#x27; are usually demarcate lines of social hierarchy, not lines of theoretical commitment.<p>This is an attractive pitch, so obviously, loads of people jump on. I think the main thing that&#x27;s nice about it is that no real work is called for. Every smart white kid from a nice background has been called &#x27;logical&#x27; or &#x27;rational&#x27; at some point, because (5), so it&#x27;s a value they identify with. It&#x27;s a young group, full of energy, because the internet is biased young, and young people go for (2) through (5).