LessWrong
Shares rank 9 of 17 discussion forums by recommenders
Recommended for thoughtful, well-reasoned discussion on AI and essays that broaden thinking; critics warn of its tie to the rationalist community.
Recommended for thoughtful, well-reasoned discussion on AI and essays that broaden thinking; critics warn of its tie to the rationalist community.
31 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 14
- criticize it
- 17
- approval share
- 45%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 14 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 0.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Smart, informed AI discussion
“their methodology of thought leads to much more well-reasoned takes on AI than on HN”
Comment from 5 Aug 2026 in “Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis is stepping down” “people are better informed on LessWrong and AI Twitter circles”
Comment from 3 Aug 2026 in “Ten advances in mathematics and theoretical computer science” “LessWrong is a much better community for rational takes on AI.”
Comment from 5 Aug 2026 in “Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis is stepping down” - Comment from 27 Feb 2026 in “Statement from Dario Amodei on Our Discussions with the Department of War”
Thoughtful, charitable discussion
“For thoughtful, critical, charitable discussion, I recommend LessWrong by leaps and bounds”
Comment from 12 Mar 2026 in “Don't post generated/AI-edited comments. HN is for conversation between humans.” “In terms of intellectual openness, I put LW at the "best I've seen anywhere, ever" level.”
Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “AI Resistance Is Growing” Essays that broaden thinking
“some great essays on Lesswrong and adjacent blogs over the years”
Comment from 18 Sep 2026 in “Sex, AI, and the Apocalypse” “They all expanded my mind and let me see more of the map.”
Comment from 2 Oct 2026 in “SlutCon” Readable layout and presentation
“the heading based TOC on the left, and the margin notes on the right”
Comment from 9 Jun 2026 in “Ask HN: Favorite text heavy blogs the are a joy to read” “Great site and this caffeine article is great presentation of data.”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “The effects of caffeine consumption do not decay with a ~5 hour half-life”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Tied to rationalist and cult-like groups
“Rationalism is really just another religion, with the faith parts carefully tucked away underneath concepts like priors”
Comment from 19 Sep 2026 in “AI safety is mostly a sex cult” “LessWrong is closely associated with the rationalists and all that comes with them.”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “The effects of caffeine consumption do not decay with a ~5 hour half-life” “The "human biodiversity", crypto scam, and polycule murder cult people.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “GLM-5.3 and the spread of advanced cyber capabilities” - Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “How AI Is Learning to Think in Secret”
Accused of echo chamber and error
“they've collectively embraced a lot of delusional thinking”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “I Did This Without Your Knowledge” “I'd argue that it was a direct result of the echo chamber.”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “I Did This Without Your Knowledge” “Less Wrong is wrong a lot lol.”
Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “Ask HN: Favorite text heavy blogs the are a joy to read” - Comment from 10 Aug 2026 in “Don't Build Mindreading”
Oddly preoccupied with odd topics
“they've also been oddly preoccupied with topics like trying to help the most people and frequently promote giving money to efficient charities”
Comment from 10 Mar 2026 in “The optimal age to freeze eggs is 19” “It's part of the "rationalist" writing sphere which has become oddly preoccupied with topics like race and IQ”
Comment from 10 Mar 2026 in “The optimal age to freeze eggs is 19” Harms impressionable readers and tech
“responsible for a lot of the worst ideas currently permeating the technology sector”
Comment from 26 Feb 2026 in “Anthropic ditches its core safety promise” “a lot of damage is being done to the psyche of impressionable people”
Comment from 22 Mar 2026 in “Hormuz Minesweeper – Are you tired of winning?”
Other discussion forums people recommend
The four most recommended other discussion forums, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hacker News | 361 | 156 | 70% | 12 | 10 yrs17 owners | Approved |
| 261 | 988 | 21% | 13 | 14 yrs54 owners | — | |
| Lobsters | 105 | 31 | 77% | 12 | 10 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| Old Reddit | 60 | 47 | 56% | 12 | — | — |
| LessWrongThis page | 14 | 17 | 45% | 8 | — | — |
What people said
32 of the 36 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I'd argue that it was a direct result of the echo chamber.”
“they've collectively embraced a lot of delusional thinking”
“pushing down content with better metrics”
“They all expanded my mind and let me see more of the map.”
“The "human biodiversity", crypto scam, and polycule murder cult people.”
“Rationalism is really just another religion, with the faith parts carefully tucked away underneath concepts like priors”
“some great essays on Lesswrong and adjacent blogs over the years”
“my overall low impression of his intellectual honesty/rigor in the write up”
“It rarely resonated with me. It's not bad, but it's not that great.”
“many comments including Yudkowsky's were plain stupid”
“The whole rationality project was started with the explicit aim of upgrading participants' reasoning abilities”
“they're still always wrong”
“I like lesswrong's approach to this. You get 4xx if you scrape that site”
“their methodology of thought leads to much more well-reasoned takes on AI than on HN”
“LessWrong is a much better community for rational takes on AI.”
“people are better informed on LessWrong and AI Twitter circles”
“I find the article rather reasonable and on point”
“Less Wrong is wrong a lot lol.”
“the heading based TOC on the left, and the margin notes on the right”
“If you want many steps forward, requiring more community norms and background reading, you could try LessWrong.”
“In terms of intellectual openness, I put LW at the "best I've seen anywhere, ever" level.”
“LessWrong is closely associated with the rationalists and all that comes with them.”
“Great site and this caffeine article is great presentation of data.”
“a lot of damage is being done to the psyche of impressionable people”
“For thoughtful, critical, charitable discussion, I recommend LessWrong by leaps and bounds”
“they've also been oddly preoccupied with topics like trying to help the most people and frequently promote giving money to efficient charities”
“It's part of the "rationalist" writing sphere which has become oddly preoccupied with topics like race and IQ”
“They are my go-tos for smart & informed writing on AI.”
“responsible for a lot of the worst ideas currently permeating the technology sector”
“lesswrong is a pseudoscience cult”
“Lesswrong is one of the most misleadingly named groups around”
“I think spending time on the LessWrong debates is a waste of time”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.