How Communities Die

Communities more often decline from too many casual newcomers, or mops, than from sociopaths, because mops dilute the brand that members use to signal who they are. David Chapman's theory holds that geeks start a community, mops follow, and sociopaths then exploit what remains, but the author thinks mop dilution is the more common cause. Chapman suggests an optimal mop-to-geek ratio of about 6:1, with ratios above 10:1 becoming unworkable. The author also argues that Effective Altruism had already jumped the shark before SBF's fraud.