>The worst thing about being smart is how easy it is to talk yourself into believing just about anything. After all, you make really good arguments.
>EA appeals to exactly that kind of really-smart-person who is perfectly capable of convincing themselves that they're always right about everything.
I think that just as big of an issue is that a lot of these EA people are not really smart. They are generally financially successful, which many people confuse with being really smart. This is especially true if that financial success came as a result of being really good at something (like programming), that doesn't necessarily translate into being really good at other things, or being really smart in general. This effect is compounded when other people are constantly stoking their egos due to the aforementioned professional and financial success. This is not to say that wealthy people who go into EA are stupid (they are very likely intelligent) but they just may not be as smart as they believe they are, or as smart as other people tell them they may be.
>EA appeals to exactly that kind of really-smart-person who is perfectly capable of convincing themselves that they're always right about everything.
I think that just as big of an issue is that a lot of these EA people are not really smart. They are generally financially successful, which many people confuse with being really smart. This is especially true if that financial success came as a result of being really good at something (like programming), that doesn't necessarily translate into being really good at other things, or being really smart in general. This effect is compounded when other people are constantly stoking their egos due to the aforementioned professional and financial success. This is not to say that wealthy people who go into EA are stupid (they are very likely intelligent) but they just may not be as smart as they believe they are, or as smart as other people tell them they may be.