It actually is a lot worse than 4chan or /r/thedonald because it is insidious. I used to follow Scott Siskind's (Astral Codex Ten, then Slate Star Codex) blog and participate on some discussions in The Motte. One day, Scott had a mask-off moment and I realised that what he was advocating for was a form of eugenics based on intelligence.
The whole goal of this "Rationalist" movement is to lure in people with well-reasoned but controversial takes (which are often plain wrong), decorated in excellent prose. It is for all intents and purposes, insight-porn that hides the fact that it is actually an alt-right pipeline with a focus on eugenics.
Buyer beware. Get involved in the rationalist movement at your own risk.
I honestly am not involved in the rationalist community (I don't read Scott generally speaking, unless it shows up on HN as it has before; and is that his real name? I heard about the doxxing incident a while ago, seems like it's overblown as most people really don't care as much as he thinks they do) and based on the threads I've read on The Motte, it really doesn't seem like that. For example I recently read a thread on the Reddit API incident, it was fine. I also looked into some more controversial threads based on your comment such as with transgender, race, etc stuff, the content also seems even-handed based on what I've read. I'm sure there is some unsavory stuff just as in any forum but I just avoid those.
The whole goal of this "Rationalist" movement is to lure in people with well-reasoned but controversial takes (which are often plain wrong), decorated in excellent prose. It is for all intents and purposes, insight-porn that hides the fact that it is actually an alt-right pipeline with a focus on eugenics.
Buyer beware. Get involved in the rationalist movement at your own risk.