I'd been working on a very long piece of writing to try to contextualize my views here but it seems like now's the time to try to talk about this stuff online directly.

(I was a resident at Maple for two years from 2019-2021, and then later for six months as a "villager" in 2022, and worked for them remotely for all of 2023.)

I've been frustrated by the criticism that's been made of Maple in public[1], which has seemed mostly unhelpful, and not a productive contribution to the discourse.[2] One person, who I mostly do respect, did a lot of angry and perhaps manipulative finagling behind the scenes about this stuff, but broadly didn't write about it etc., I'm not sure why.

One story I might tell for that person, and part of why I myself haven't written about Maple publicly yet, is that it's very difficult [...]

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Outline:

(02:14) I think that criticism of Maple cant be made by sneering appeals to Western secular culture.

(04:57) However, I dont think what Maple is doing is working or will work.

(07:10) Maple is correct about the modern disease, in a very important way.

The original text contained 3 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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First published:
August 19th, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ENCNHyNEgvz9oo9rr/briefly-on-maple-and-the-broader-community

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

“Briefly on MAPLE, and the broader community” by herschel

LessWrong (30+ Karma)

“Briefly on MAPLE, and the broader community” by herschel