"Evil is bad, actually (Vassar and Olivia Schaefer callout post)" by plex

"Evil is bad, actually (Vassar and Olivia Schaefer callout post)" by plex

From LessWrong (Curated & Popular) by LessWrong

April 21, 2026 · 16 min

About this episode

The episode critiques the counterproductive strategies proposed by Micheal Vassar and Olivia Schaefer for saving the world.

Micheal Vassar's strategy for saving the world is horrifyingly counterproductive. Olivia's is worse. A note before we start: A lot of the sources cited are people who ended up looking kinda insane. This is not a coincidence, it's apparently an explicit strategy: Apply plausibly-deniable psychological pressure to anyone who might speak up until they crack and discredit themselves by sounding crazy or taking extreme and destructive actions. Here's Brent Dill explaining it: (later in t...

Topics covered

  • psychological pressure
  • counterproductive strategies
  • mental health
  • social dynamics
  • extreme actions

Keywords

  • Micheal Vassar
  • Olivia Schaefer
  • psychological pressure
  • counterproductive
  • extreme actions

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