Why “rationalist” is being discussed
The most recent Hacker News stories and comments contributing to this topic's mentions.
At the same time, it's not just Yudkowsky and Scott Alexander and the Rationalist movement who are raising concerns. I've not seen any indication that Hinton or Bengio are part…
by DennisP · Sep 18, 2026
"I would find it strange for anyone who's seriously interested in AI to have never heard of Yudkowsky or Scott Alexander or the Rationalist movement." But, it would be pretty su…
by SwellJoe · Sep 18, 2026
I really don’t know how we went from “there are people bullish about AI, and others that see it as an existential threat” to the complete reversal/psyop in the past few mon…
by sph · Sep 18, 2026
Very well stated People in this comments page who are defending the crazy rationalist sects can be safely treated as though they’re arguing in bad faith. It matters little wheth…
by totallymike · Sep 18, 2026
Useless article. Doesn't matter whether Coxon has pure motives, it got attention. You can't put that back in a bottle. It does matter whether AI is safe or not. I won't make a s…
by ball_of_lint · Sep 18, 2026
So what you're saying is that we lack a reproduction study? Great; let's design and fund a study of the development of artificial intelligence that's as causally divorced from t…
by benlivengood · Sep 18, 2026
Interest
Proportion of Hacker News items mentioning "rationalist" over time.
Mentions
Total number of Hacker News items mentioning "rationalist" over time.
In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "the position that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge", often in contrast to other possible sources of knowledge such as faith, tradition, or sensory experience. More formally, rationalism is defined as a methodology or a theory "in which the criterion of truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive". Read more on Wikipedia