Scott Alexander argues for valuing thinkers who produce original ideas, even if they're often wrong, criticizing the tendency to dismiss intellectuals for their mistakes. Longer summary

Scott Alexander discusses the value of thinkers who generate original ideas, even if they also produce many incorrect ones. He uses the metaphor of a 'black box' that generates hypotheses, arguing that even with a low success rate, such a device would be incredibly valuable. He then applies this concept to real-world geniuses like Newton and Einstein, who despite some questionable ideas, produced groundbreaking work. Scott argues for 'positive selection' in intellectual pursuits, where a single good idea should outweigh multiple bad ones. He criticizes the tendency to dismiss thinkers entirely for having some wrong ideas, which he terms 'intellectual outrage culture'. The post concludes by emphasizing that even deeply flawed thinkers can provide valuable insights. Shorter summary