Why is every rationalist blog post way too long?
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
Rationalist bloggers write overly long posts where verbosity substitutes for thoroughness and wisdom.
The author argues that rationalist bloggers produce excessively long posts, citing Scott Alexander's 25,000-word post, Eliezer Yudkowsky's million-word 'sequences,' and Gwern's 9,000-word defense of nicotine. He contends that verbosity masks a lack of thoroughness and wisdom, and that the community values unconventional ideas over common sense. The author's own 2,700-word piece was the result of cutting 70% of initial text.
What commenters are saying
Commenters broadly agree that rationalist verbosity stems from confusing appearance of seriousness with seriousness itself, poor writing skill, and a culture that rewards obscurantism and signaling. Some defend Scott Alexander and Gwern as good writers, noting that rigorous analysis requires length. Several note that nicotine's addictiveness and benefits remain legitimately disputed. A recurring point: 'I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead' (attributed to Pascal, Balzac, Twain).