A prophesy for postrationalism—or an elegy
“A fun and silly scene that might eventually address the fundamental problems of postmodernity”
Three years ago, I dashed off a sketch for a post about postrationalism. Filed and forgotten.
Discovered today while looking for something else.
It now reads as prophesy…
First, my brief February 2022 text; and then February 2025 reflections.
LessWrong rationalism is a nostalgic aesthetic subculture, analogous to steampunk. It’s inconsequential, although (like other aesthetic subcultures) enjoyable for geeks and MOPs.
It’s necessarily a dead end because serious rationalism conclusively and permanently failed by about 1960. You can’t bring back Victorian steam power, nor its rationalism.
I love steampunk. I have mixed feelings about LW rationality LARPing. I love their aesthetic, but they don’t realize they are creating a retro artwork. They somehow think they invented rationalism (hint: off by 2600+ years) and that they are rapidly carrying it forward. This renders the whole thing grotesque.
Postrationalism is an alternative aesthetic subculture, reacting to rationalism (and thereby largely recapitulating 1800s Romanticism).
Sometimes a tiny aesthetic subculture can expand into a major, mainstream cultural force. The hippie movement, a few dozen experimental anti-rational lifestyle artists in the early 1960s, grew into the cultural mainstream of the 1970s, and became a deep inquiry into the foundations of modernity—eventually resulting in its destruction.
Postrationalism, unlike LW rationalism, was not stillborn. It potentially addresses the fundamental problems of postmodernity—the wreckage left behind after the 1960s. Postrationalism is currently a fun and silly scene of a handful of confused lifestyle experimentalists, but might eventually become something much greater.
A sign that the potential may be realized would be if its appeal expands significantly beyond LW rejection. When many people join the scene who have never heard of the LW subculture (and when it is explained to them say “that’s dumb, whatever, who cares”), we will know that something really interesting is happening.
Wavy dissolve to return from the flashback…
Coincidentally, within a couple weeks after writing that, I started seeing twitter references to “TPOT.” Whatever that was.
Eventually, someone @-ed me in a remark about it.1
Them: Something something TPOT something
Me: “TPOT”?
Them: Yes.
Me: What is “TPOT”?
Them: You know, the cult you founded.
Me: The… what?
Them: The cult you founded?
Me: I founded a cult? I feel that someone should have informed me of this earlier!
Since then, when “TPOT” has come up, I’ve asked quite a few people what it is. I haven’t properly understood any of the answers, despite honest effort. It has something to do with postrationalism, although I’m not clear on the relationship.
In fact, “postrationalism” itself has named at least three distinct online scenes that I know of. I’ve enjoyed all of them as a MOP, but despite my supposed founding status, I haven’t considered myself part of any of them. TPOT may be a fourth? I’m unsure of this.
The various explanations of TPOT I’ve received seem to contradict each other. Some have made it explicit that illegibility is part of the point—as it was with some versions of postrationalism. This is cool! Subcultures need boundaries, and incomprehensibility is one good way to rate-limit the MOP invasion. Anyway, I have several good friends who I gather are big in TPOT, so I figure it’s probably a Good Thing.
On re-reading my 2022 sketch, it is the last line that sticks out:
When many people join the scene who have never heard of the LW subculture (and when it is explained to them say “that’s dumb, whatever, who cares”), we will know that something really interesting is happening.
I’ve heard that this began about a year into TPOT’s existence.
I have also heard, vaguely, that this was not a good thing. I’m distant enough that I don’t know any details, but it sounds like normie MOPs were attracted by the promise of great parties, and maybe some sociopaths arrived, and maybe there was Drama. Recently I’ve heard rumors that the scene is kinda over? I hope this is not true! Although I still have next to no idea what it is, it seems to have done a lot of good for many people.
That “postrationalism” has already had four iterations suggests that it is a Historical Inevitability. So maybe if TPOT truly is about over, a new postrationalism will spontaneously assemble itself, in accordance with the urging of the Hegelian World Spirit.
And, just maybe, it will address the fundamental problems of postmodernity.
This is a lighter-weight post than is typical for me. I have a lot of drafts like this. What do you think? Should I post more short, half-baked pieces? Or stick with the longer, usually more serious stuff?
The post rat image at the top of this page seems to be from the steampunk game Sunless Sea, which looks really fun!
I can’t remember who, and can’t find this interaction, and may be misrepresenting it. Sorry!
I've had to argue over and over that there's no postrationalism with rationalism. The postrationalist perspective builds on what works about rationalism and then uses those tools without the confines of assuming the totalizing rationalist worldview.
But then inevitably the prerationalists show up and mistake postrationalism for their thing, and then we have to move on, because no one has yet cracked the nut of how to create a postrationalism that also solidly contains the rationalist parts it needs to function and can't be mistaken for prerationalism.
If rationalism is the steady removal of context in favour of the divine light of pure Reason, then it makes sense that there is one recurring rationalism.
But if post-rationalism is the recognition of the failure of rationalism and then seeking to add the context back in, then there could be infinitely many post-rationalisms based on what context gets added back in first.
San Fransisco rationalism can be formally equal to London rationalism or Delhi rationalism. But SF post-rat will not be equal to London post-rat or Delhi post-rat.
I've broken it up geographically but you could also do it by main interest e.g. meditation or by political tradition. I don't feel I should have to say why referring to TPOT is going to feel groundless in this situation.
So maybe looking for something labelled post-rationalism is less exciting than seeing post-rationalism in action in the world, as a real contextual thing.
This reminds me of your anti-philosophy thread. I agree with what you say about it but I'm not about to start a post-philosophy group. I'll just use my time better