Lydia Laurenson's 'Inside Story of Leverage Research' Stirs Debate on Organizational Collapse

Lydia Laurenson recently published "The Inside Story of Leverage Research," an article that goes into substantially more detail on what happened within the rationalist organization Leverage Research. The piece has garnered attention as a comprehensive look at the group's internal operations, offering a narrative that many in the community find revealing yet incomplete. Laurenson's account focuses on the structural and cultural factors that led to the organization's collapse, presenting a nuanced picture of its members and motives.

However, the article has faced significant criticism from Oliver Habryka, a prominent figure in the rationalist ecosystem who interned at Leverage and worked with the Center for Applied Rationality (CEA). Habryka argues that while the article is "literally true," it misses crucial events such as Leverage deploying spies into other organizations and attempting to take over CEA. He also points out that the article fails to cover straightforward lies told by Leverage staff and multiple members who experienced what he describes as psychotic breaks. Habryka contends the article's narrative unfairly emphasizes that Leverage fell apart through no fault of its members, framing it as a story of encountering "ancient magic" rather than the messy reality of organizational dysfunction.