Nuance. It doesn't seem that the "public geniuses" themselves are driving impactful decision-making, but well-meaning folks in one of many thin layers "surrounding" them. The relevant point though is that this layer wants to be seen as forward-thinking (they could be advocating vaccines or crypto in previous eras, so you can't blame them for the "incorrectness" of the fad).

Nor are they sycophants; I'd expect they know independence of thought is a prerequisite for getting into those positions

A rough picture of what these guys smell like-- in personality, not in role-- are the "journalistic-influencers": Peter Robinson of Hoover, Dwarkesh, etc. I hope dang or mod-wannabes are different (maybe they don't actually aspire to be impactful) ?

Question: did these journalistic-influencers have to go through a LinkedIn stage where they vy for the public-geniuses' attention? I suspect not-- even in the case of Dwarkesh. I'm not saying there was no seduction involved.. the seduction is not entirely legible..

Eric Weinstein seems to belong to another layer, one that is more like a sinecure, providing moral-support only. Is he in the same layer as Lex Fridman? Maybe. Well-managed glee/narcissism is necessary but not sufficient

How about Fidji Simo?? Or the CFO? "Agrippa" Bosworth? Do early investors think that sama labels himself "genius" in his own dreams?

Calling these guys "Mafiosi" or "Enforcers" is underestimating their sophistication.. "Name one act of social hackery that does not involve computers" comes to mind.

In their defence, their role means that they "have no time to think" (answering a question of Feynman's). Hope you don't mind me calling this the "solvitur ambulando" market failure [compounded by [the promise of] "cheap" AI]. I hear they are now trying to make AI take walks (think of the auteur-inside-an-auteur from The Truman Show as a prototype of this "humanistic" strategy)..

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/632720.Don_t_You_Have_Ti...

I wanted to include Hannah-Arendt's ideas somewhere in this diagnosis but this is a long term project looking for collaborators :)

Update: honestly didn't see boz.com on the front-page until now. Lol. (High) Priest of Meta can't focus.. should we prescribe the traditional "Ethene"