Ask HN: People here seem to really dislike Lex Fridman. What's the backstory?

TechBro8615 · on March 25, 2023

He embellishes his MIT background (he has an unpaid position, is barely associated with them, and has basically zero real experience with AI or self-driving technology), and more importantly is just not that smart. He asks shallow questions and doesn't let his guests lead the conversation because he isn't smart enough to understand where they're going with the topic.

That said, he gets incredible guests, and I do listen to some episodes of his podcasts to hear what they say. I just wish there was a better podcast host with the same audience and ability to get those guests onto their show.

throwawaysalome · on March 25, 2023

It's the Gell-Mann phenomenon. To the general public, he's an accomplished thinker. To your average STEM grad, he's your unremarkable TA who parlayed a second-tier PhD into global name recognition.

night-rider · on March 25, 2023

> he's got a peculiar style on and off his show that won't appeal to everyone

I often speed up Lex to 1.5x when he's talking, and for certain guests who talk fast, I toggle the speed back to 1x. Or if the guest talks slow, I just keep the whole podcast on 1.5x

If I've had my caffeine I might dial the whole podcast up to 2x.

In terms of content: Basically all the interviews he's done have the same thread of AI replacing humans. That type of topic gets boring, fast. I've heard all the arguments for and against AI and have made up my mind about it. In short, we gotta be careful with it: it's the atom bomb 2.0 if we're not careful.

YuriNiyazov · on March 25, 2023

Nothing. HN in general has gotten into a negative space where anything that is vaguely associated with tech and gets popular gets a massive amount of criticism here.

To put it more bluntly, there’s a lot of haters here.

paulpauper · on March 25, 2023

"people here" is tens of thousands of users or more. You are bound to find a large number who dislike any major public figure, just by statistical chance alone.

It is kinda dull but it seems to work for him given how successful it is. Just goes to show how our tastes are not aligned with the large audience he amassed. Oprah is boring to me, but evidently not to millions of Americans.

m348e912 · on March 25, 2023

>>So I get it, he's got a peculiar style on and off his show that won't appeal to everyone. What I don't get is just how vitriolic some of the comments HNers make about him are.

I don't think it's his style they have issues with, it's more likely his association with "alt-right" personalities that sours some people on Lex. Giving individuals such as Joe Rogan, Jordan Peterson, Michael Malice, Eric/Bret Weinstein, and the "anti-semite" version Kanye airtime seems to enrage a certain group of people.

To those people, quoting Aristotle, I say "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

I don't care for Lex for different reasons. His style, his naiveté (whether genuine or not, I can't tell), just isn't my cup of tea.

Handprint4469 · on March 27, 2023

How is Michael Malice alt-right? He's an anarchist

stathibus · on March 25, 2023

One reason is the crowd he mingles with (what very-online people have referred to as the intellectual dark web, people like Jordan Peterson or Sam Harris). To some, just giving these people a platform is objectionable, regardless of the content of the conversation.

The second reason is that he exaggerates his position. He claims to be an AI researcher at MIT, but he does no actual research as far as I can tell and hasn't for a while - and in fact, the research he did do while at MIT is pretty lame. The last time he came to MIT in person was to give a seminar on AI to laypeople. Maybe he has some private technical pursuits but it's time for him to drop the affiliation.

PaulHoule · on March 25, 2023