GoKawiilEssay criticizes rationalist bloggers for excessive length over clarity
A blogger critiques the rationalist writing community, citing examples like Eliezer Yudkowsky's million-word 'sequences' and a 9,000-word Gwern post on nicotine, arguing these posts are needlessly long and tedious. The author contrasts this with their own 2,700-word piece on Catholic miracle apologetics, which cut 70% of its draft text, to argue brevity serves readers better.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The critique suggests that within some online intellectual communities, sheer word count may be mistaken for rigor or thoroughness rather than genuine insight. This could reflect a broader tension in blogging culture between exhaustive detail and editorial discernment about what's worth saying.
- The author contrasts a 2,700-word piece with a 25,000-word Scott Alexander post as an example of excessive length in rationalist writing.
- Eliezer Yudkowsky's 'sequences' are cited as exceeding one million words.
- Gwern's widely cited 9,000-word post arguing nicotine isn't addictive is used as an example of verbosity substituting for sound conclusions.
Source: alexwennerberg.com — Alex Wennerberg, 2026-10-14
Published there as: “Why is every rationalist blog post way too long?”
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