Top all-time · #5362
Ozy Brennan
Personal blog · thingofthings.substack.comphilosophyculture
Ozy Brennan writes Thing of Things, a personal blog at thingofthings.substack.com about philosophy and culture. Since 2022, 15 different Hacker News readers have linked it 23 times, most often “You will not be a member of the permanent underclass”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-30, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (5) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN commenters link Ozy Brennan's Substack for posts on the rationalist community, the Satanic Panic, and secular solstice rituals. One calls the Satanic Panic post recommended reading for newcomers.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 5 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
"the most insufferable person alive" --taylor lorenz.
Most-linked posts?
- You will not be a member of the permanent underclass2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2026-04-06
- Other people might just not have your problems2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2025-12-11
- What Openness to Experience Means2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-09-30
What Hacker News says?
> autistic A lot of people say this, but I think it's the wrong word in an important way. I'll give you P(autistic|rationalist) > P(autistic), but beware the base rate fallacy. My guess is you're focussing on a proxy variable. To show some important counter-examples: Temple Grandin, famously autistic and a lot of people's idea what autism means - not a rationalist in the sense you mean. Scott Alexander - fairly cent…
Comment linking /p/what-do-effective-altruists-believe
on “String of recent killings linked to Bay Area 'Zizians'”Submitted Cons of Polyamory as a story · 40 points
HN discussionI am strongly reminded of https://thingofthings.substack.com/p/rationalists-and-the-cu... , which concluded that the kind of person who believes complex irrational arguments is also the kind of person who falls for conspiracy theories, weird cults, and various kinds of whacky beliefs. That said, I would advocate a more systematic version of the article's conclusion that we should accept that we can't think. Instead…
Comment linking /p/rationalists-and-the-cultic-milieu
on “Epistemic Learned Helplessness (2019)”Submitted What Openness to Experience Means as a story · 39 points
HN discussion̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶p̶l̶e̶a̶s̶e̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶v̶i̶d̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶t̶l̶;̶d̶r̶?̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶a̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶r̶g̶u̶m̶e̶n̶t̶,̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶d̶a̶t̶a̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶b̶a̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶o̶n̶?̶ ... okay, I didn't want to be that lazy, so looked up the author. (Her name is interestingly not on the cover :o) Abigail Shrier, hm. okay, at least there's a wikipedia page about her. she seems to be a layman when it comes to psychology/psychiatry. a…
Comment linking /p/bad-therapy-review-fifties-dad-mental
on “Finding a therapist who takes your insurance can be nearly impossible”Submitted Mammals as a story · 4 points
HN discussionHappy Solsthelion! There's a ritual for it: https://thingofthings.substack.com/p/bay-area-secular-solsti...
Comment linking /p/bay-area-secular-solstice-2024-script
on “Wishing Everyone a Happy Solsthelion”Submitted You will not be a member of the permanent underclass as a story · 3 points
HN discussionRecommended reading as an introduction to the Satanic Panic, if you're not familiar with the term: https://thingofthings.substack.com/p/the-satanic-panic-is-in...
Comment linking /p/the-satanic-panic-is-incredibly-weird
on “After 30 years, a father is exonerated in 'Satanic panic' case”Submitted Notes Towards a Sex-Realist Feminism as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Fraudsters: Turn Yourself In as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Other people might just not have your problems as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Other People Might Just Not Have Your Problems as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted I Was a Juror on a Murder Trial as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Life Goals of Dead People as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted What Openness to Experience Means as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Some Thoughts on Sexual Harassment as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted You will not be a member of the permanent underclass as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Why I'm a Quaker as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Interview with Yafah Edelman about AI welfare as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Weird People of History: George Walbridge Perkins I as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted 6% of this article is the term “effective altruis[m,t]” as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Ideological Abuse Series: Effective Altruism and Child Sexual Abuse as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
