Ozy Brennan

{{LessWrong}}

'''Ozy Brennan''' {{lived|1992|}}{{refn|Ozy Frantz, [http://www.rolereboot.org/sex-and-relationships/details/2012-05-im-bored-with-sex/index.html I’m Bored With Sex]. ''Role/Reboot: Life, Off Script'', 14 May 2012. {{quotebox|"...my number of sex partners has already, at the age of 20, put me above the lifetime median for American women. I like sex!{{refn|group=note|Brennan no longer identifies as a woman, and Brennan's preferred pronouns as of 2025 are not clear, so this article uses they/them.}}}}}} is a rationalist/[[Effective altruism|Effective Altruist]] writer and life coach. In the topsy-turvy world of [[LessWrong]], Brennan  is not unusual for being a [[transgender]] [[Neurodiversity|neurodivergent]] [[Polyamory|polyamorist]]<ref>[https://ozybrennan.squarespace.com/about Ozy Brennan Life Coaching: About]. ozybrennan.squarespace.com.</ref> who posts like they are paid by the word and dreams of a future where predators never take live prey. Instead, Brennan is unusual for having formal education in gender studies and identifying as [[feminist]].

==Early days==

In 2011 and 2012, Brennan was an undergraduate student at "a hippy college in the United States" and a founding writer on the feminist group blog ''No, Seriously, What About Teh Menz?''. (At that time they went by Ozy Frantz and Ozymandias). Their first post was "Who Cares About Men’s Rights?"<ref>[https://noseriouslywhatabouttehmenz.wordpress.com/2011/06/17/who-cares-about-mens-rights/ Who Cares About Men’s Rights?]. noseriouslywhatabouttehmenz.wordpress.com, 17 June 2011.</ref> They started a book titled ''What About The Men?'' with fellow blogger Noah Brand<ref>[https://www.noahabrand.com/about What About The Men: Chapter 1, Introduction and Principles]. noahabrand.com, 6 July 2012.</ref> which seems to have never been published.<ref>[https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/what-about-the-men-chapter-1-introduction-and-principles/ What About The Men: Chapter 1, Introduction and Principles]. goodmenproject.com, 6 July 2012.</ref> They contributed to ''Role/Reboot'', an online magazine focused on alternatives to normative gender roles.<ref>[http://www.rolereboot.org/author/ofrantz/index.html Author: Ozy Frantz]. rolereboot.org.</ref><ref>[http://www.rolereboot.org/sex-and-relationships/details/2012-07-11-ways-men-can-be-better-feminist-allies/ 11 Ways Men Can Be Better Feminist Allies]. rolereboot.org, 25 July 2012.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131216100039/http://www.rolereboot.org/about/about About Role/Reboot]. Archived from roleroboot.org, 16 December 2013.</ref> They also wrote about 480 blog posts in 19 months for {{wpl|The Good Men Project||,}} a digital magazine on masculinity.<ref>[https://goodmenproject.com/author/ozyfrantz/page/30/ Ozy Franz], goodmenproject.com. </ref> Despite (or because of) this high rate of posts they mentioned burnout and depression.<ref>[https://goodmenproject.com/noseriouslywhatabouttehmenz/on-break/ On Break]. goodmenproject.com, 22 September 2012.</ref><ref>[https://goodmenproject.com/noseriouslywhatabouttehmenz/blogging-has-been-outsourced/ Blogging Has Been Outsourced]. goodmenproject.com, 18 May 2012.</ref> In December 2012 Brennan announced:

{{quotebox|Due to recent events at the Good Men Project, I have decided to leave the Good Men Project and No, Seriously What About Teh Menz?<ref>[https://archive.ph/A4Lum Ozy Frantz's Blog]. Archived from ozyfrantz.wordpress.com, 13 July 2015.</ref>}}

and launched their own blog.

The American blogging and new media world around 2012 had a number of interconnected communities, including the [[ScienceBlogs]] diaspora, [[New Atheism]], the [[Feminism|feminist]] blogosphere, sex blogs, and LessWrong. This world was being torn apart for many reasons, including the loss of [[George W. Bush]] as a unifying other, the incentives for sharing drama to get attention on a growing Internet, and disagreements about race, gender, and immigration. Changes in revenue from Internet ads, the appearance of crowdfunding and Patreon, and the collapse of organizations like Gawker Media, also challenged anyone trying to make money or build an audience. Figures like [[Rebecca Watson]] and [[Richard Carrier]] tried to jump from log to log and sometimes fell into the rushing water. After leaving the feminist blogosphere, Brennan became less visible for a time before finding a new community.

==Move into the Effective Altruism movement==

By 2013, Brennan had met [[Scott Alexander]] who endorsed their blog with the wobbly enthusiasm of Sonia Greene endorsing [[H.P. Lovecraft|her second husband]]'s skill in bed:<ref>[https://archive.ph/iuJYL The Mysterious Love of Sonia Greene for H.P. Lovecraft]. Archived from ''Wired'', 5 February 2007.</ref>

{{quotebox|Ozy Frantz introduced zirself to me by saying that “I major in gender studies, but I am not that kind of gender studies student. Promise.” So far this claim has been entirely borne out and Ozy’s blog is actually really good. I still usually avoid reading it, because even a good blog on gender has to be responding to and referencing the bad blogs on gender, and even short little quotes from them make me want to smash something and that something is often someone’s skull. But it really is actually really good.<ref>[https://archive.ph/JCaf6 Typical Mind and Gender Identity]. Archived from ''Slate Star Codex'', 18 February 2013.</ref>}}

Brennan contributed a FAQ against the pickup artist [[Heartiste]] to Alexander's blog in 2014, and said that they lived with Alexander and considered him their primary partner, and Alexander said that Brennan was his romantic partner that same year.<ref>[https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/08/20/ozys-anti-heartiste-faq/ Ozy’s Anti Heartiste FAQ]. ''Slate Star Codex'', 20 August 2013.</ref><ref>[https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/09/22/ssc-gives-a-wedding-speech/ SSC Gives A Wedding Speech]. ''Slate Star Codex'', 22 September 2014. Both of these posts mention a family name and gender identity which Brennan no longer uses.</ref>

In October 2014, Brennan launched a new blog calleed "Thing of Things".<ref>[https://thingofthings.wordpress.com/ Thing of Things], wordpress.com. Not updated since 2021.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150107092355/https://thingofthings.wordpress.com/2014/10/30/new-blog/ New Blog!] Archived from thingofthings.wordpress.com, 30 October 2014.</ref> An early post referred to instructions from "Scott" presumably Scott Alexander.  The first three months of the blog included posts about trans issues, disability, and sexual ethics, a version of Scott Alexander's argument for epistemic learned helplessness applied to AI doom,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141127052859/http://thingofthings.wordpress.com/2014/11/02/why-i-am-very-confused-about-donating-to-miri/ Why I Am Very Confused About Donating To MIRI]. Archived from ''Thing of Things'', 2 November 2014.</ref><ref>[https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/06/03/repost-epistemic-learned-helplessness/ Epistemic Learned Helplessness]. ''Star Slate Codex'', 3 June 2019.</ref> and a proposal for an annual holiday for Effective Altruists. Brennan's blogroll contained a mix of sex blogs such as ''Pervocracy'', pop culture such as the ''Order of the Stick'' webcomic, rationalist blogs such as ''Slate Star Codex'' and Sarah Constantin's ''Otium'', the Effective Altruism Forum, and [[Anti-natalism|anti-natalist]] blog ''The View from Hell''.  Brennan's intellectual environment was no longer typical for a student at a "hippie college" because Brennan mentioned having briefly been convinced by a friend's argument for [[eugenics]] before rethinking.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141127052857/http://thingofthings.wordpress.com/2014/10/31/an-argument-against-eugenics-that-doesnt-involve-calling-anyone-a-nazi/ An argument against eugenics that doesn't involve calling anyone a Nazi]. ''Thing of Things'', October 31, 2012.</ref> One of their very polite arguments was that controlling nature by trying to eliminate traits such as depression or autism could have unforeseen consequences ([[G._K._Chesterton#Fence_lover|Chesterton's Fence]]).{{efn|LessWrongers are big on civility and not big on history, so "eugenics was used to sterilize and expel brown / disabled people where I live, and I am brown / disabled / an immigrant, so anyone who suggests enacting it will get my cane in my brown hand on their ass" is not acceptable to them.}}

In 2016, Brennan married another blogger and took his last name. The blogger had distanced himself from the rationalist movement after Scott Alexander tried to convert him to scientific racism,<ref>[https://reflectivealtruism.com/2024/10/31/human-biodiversity-part-4-astral-codex-ten/ Human biodiversity (Part 4: Astral Codex Ten)]. reflectivealtruism.com, 31 October 2024.</ref> but the couple agreed to disagree about Brennan's friends.<ref>[https://thingofthings.wordpress.com/2016/07/04/mawwiage-is-what-bwings-us-togetha-today/ Mawwiage Is What Bwings Us Togetha Today]. ''Thing of Things'', 4 July 2016.</ref> It is very common for people in the rationalist and EA subcultures to both date and work for other current and former members of the movement, such as the [[Polyamory|polycule]] which ran the [[Sam Bankman-Fried|FTX]] [[cryptocurrency]] fraud.

Circa 2017 and 2018, Brennan worked for the EA-affiliated charity Wild Animal Suffering.<ref>[https://wildanimalsuffering.org/ Wild Animal Suffering].</ref> They participated in the the 2017 Research Workshop on Effective Animal Advocacy organized by Animal Charity Evaluators<ref>[https://animalcharityevaluators.org/blog/study-proposals-from-our-first-research-workshop-on-effective-animal-advocacy/ Study Proposals from Our First Research Workshop on Effective Animal Advocacy]. Animal Charity Evaluators, 24 October 2017.</ref> and a panel discussion at Effective Altruism Global 2018: San Francisco.<ref>[https://www.effectivealtruism.org/articles/ea-global-2018-building-support-for-wild-animal-suffering Building Support for Wild Animal Suffering]. effectivealtruism.org, 2018.</ref> One member of the movement claims that Brennan worked for six years in this field.<ref>[https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/qbmtfTER86ijqaFDW/ea-blog-recommendation-thing-of-things-by-ozy-brennan EA Blog Recommendation: Thing of Things, by Ozy Brennan]. forum.effectivealtruism.org, 22 July 2022.</ref> Brennan acknowledged that the movement had weird and wonderful goals:

{{quotebox|nobody is going to go out there and genetically engineer lions so that they only eat grass '''tomorrow''', we're going to do lots of research before we do anything. We're going to '''start''' with smaller scale projects. There's a lot of '''uncertainty''' about ecology and we're totally aware of that and this is something that we're concerned about at Wild Animal Suffering Research and at other organizations.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230722190542/https://www.effectivealtruism.org/articles/ea-global-2018-building-support-for-wild-animal-suffering Building Support for Wild Animal Suffering]. Archived from effectivealtruism.org, 22 July 2023.</ref>}}

Watchers of pop science documentaries,<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/natures-fear-factor/ Nature's Fear Factor]. PBS, 14 October 2020.</ref> or people in the USA who deal with deer and Australia who deal with rabbits, know that ecosystems go haywire if you remove the predators, and the results are not kind to every herbivore or plant. Brennan also endorsed the EA sophistry that climate change is unlikely to kill all humans, so not an existential risk,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190116113649/https://thingofthings.wordpress.com/2019/01/11/climate-change-is-not-an-existential-risk/ Climate Change Is, In General, Not An Existential Risk]. Archived from thingofthings.wordpress.com, 11 January 2019.</ref> whereas {{wpl|SkyNet}} could kill us all! Scenarios where the climate becomes so hot and unstable that agriculture collapses are speculative, but not nearly so speculative as scenarios where OpenAI builds electric Jesus in a data centre (and the collapse of agriculture, followed by industrial civilization, would put a pin in dreams of conquering the universe).

==COVID era==

In 2019 and 2020, Brennan ran an advice column on Medium.<ref>https://medium.com/@thingofthingsadvice archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20250126090449/https://medium.com/@thingofthingsadvice archive.org]</ref> In March 2025<ref>https://thingofthings.substack.com/p/life-coaching-now-available</ref> Brennan opened a side business as a life coach focusing on gender identity, sexuality, excessive self-criticism, life with mental health challenges, and concerns within the Effective Altruism movement.<ref>https://ozybrennan.squarespace.com</ref>

{{quotebox|As a highly involved effective altruist, I have context on whatever weird thing you’re stressed about: [[List_of_predictions_of_the_end_of_the_world|imminent AI doom]], the scope of animal suffering, the implications of [[Roko's basilisk|weird thought experiments]]. I won’t assume your desire for impact is a cognitive distortion.<ref>https://ozybrennan.squarespace.com/about archived on [https://web.archive.org/web/20250331204735/https://ozybrennan.squarespace.com/about archive.org]</ref>}}

In June 2021, Brennan moved to [[Substack]].<ref>Ozy Brennan, [https://thingofthings.substack.com/p/coming-soon "Coming Soon,"] Thing of Things substack, January 29, 2021 archived on [https://web.archive.org/web/20210916061027/https://thingofthings.substack.com/p/coming-soon archive.org]</ref> They blamed the new Gutenberg Wordpress editor for driving them away, whereas other writers say that they were offered financial incentives to move to Substack.<ref>Annalee Newitz, [https://buttondown.com/thehypothesis/archive/heres-why-substacks-scam-worked-so-well/ Here's why Substack's scam worked so well,"] ''The Hypothesis'', March 17, 2021 {{quotebox|Substack is not merely an app. It’s actually a publication. Why do I say that? Because Substack’s leadership pays a secret, select group of people to write for the platform. They call this group of writers the “Substack Pro” group}}</ref><ref>Eric Levitz, [https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/03/substack-scam-journalism-media.html "Substack Is a Scam in the Same Way That All Media Is,"] ''New York Intelligencer'', March 24, 2021 {{quotebox|Newitz contends that by secretly providing salaries to certain elite pundits, Substack is effectively scamming less-established journalists into thinking that newsletter writing is more remunerative than it actually is. ... It’s hard to believe that there are very many up-and-coming journalists out there who would see that Glenn Greenwald was making money off of writing newsletters, (and) think to themselves, ''Well, if an internationally famous polemicist with 1.6 million Twitter followers can make a living off of Substack, surely I can, too''}} But many figures with large incomes on Substack don't seem to have mass appeal, and the line between a bad investment and [[Wingnut welfare]] is blurry.</ref><ref>Hamish McKenzie et al., [https://post.substack.com/p/introducing-the-substack-creator "Introducing the Substack Creator Accelerator Fund,"] ''The Substack Post'' January 23, 2025</ref> Brennan's Substack has diverse topics but a strong EA perspective.

In 2022 and 2023, Brennan posted for Faunalytics which tries to reduce animal suffering.<ref>[https://faunalytics.org/author/ozy-frantz/ "Ozy Frantz,"] ''Faunalytics'' archived https://archive.ph/NUpZQ</ref>

In June 2024, Brennan wrote about the [[TESCREAL]] concept for EA-funded ''[[Asterisk Magazine]]''.<ref>Ozy Brennan, [https://asteriskmag.com/issues/06/the-tescreal-bungle "The 'TESCREAL' Bungle,"] ''Asterisk Magazine'', June 2024 archived on [https://web.archive.org/web/20250406045517/https://asteriskmag.com/issues/06/the-tescreal-bungle archive.org]. Note how Brennan and ''Asterisk'' avoid saying "we are EAs and rationalists" which is a relevant fact for interpreting an apologia for the movement (the author bio describes Brennan as "an animal welfare researcher and science fiction author")</ref> Brennan agreed that it was useful to have one name for these movements, but disagreed with Torres that all these ideas should be rejected:

{{quotebox|Republicans and Democrats don’t seem to agree about much. But if you were explaining American politics to a medieval peasant, the peasant would notice a number of commonalities: that citizens should choose their political leaders through voting, that people have a right to criticize those in charge, that the same laws ought to apply to everyone. To explain what was going on, you’d call this “liberal democracy.” Similarly, many people in Silicon Valley share a worldview that is unspoken and, all too often, invisible to them. When you mostly talk to people who share your perspective, it’s easy to not notice the controversial assumptions behind it. ... Torres can dismiss all TESCREALists out of hand because Torres is opposed to economic growth and even the most necessary control of nature{{fact}}. Everyone else has to consider specific ideas.}}

Brennan helped to organize the 2024 Bay Area secular solstice so was still involved in LessWrong as well as Effective Altruism, and in their days in animal charity Brennan was familiar with transhumanism.<ref>Ozy Brennan, [https://thingofthings.substack.com/p/im-running-the-bay-area-secular-solstice "I'm Running The Bay Area Secular Solstice,"] ''Thing of Things'' substack, December 6, 2024</ref> They market their counselling to Effective Altruists concerned with AI risk which often means [[Singularity|the singularity]]. Of the seven ideologies in TESCREAL, Brennan therefore links [[Transhumanism]] (T), Singulitarianism (S), Rationalism (R), and Effective Altruism (EA) but not Cosmism (C), Extropianism (E), or Longtermism (L).

==Green flags==

[[File:Less-online-some-writings-we-love.png|thumb|right|"Some Writings We Love: The sites below embody the virtues we are celebrating.  Each author below has been offered a free ticket to LessOnline." A gathering for weird writers might invite one person really interested in IQ tests from Kenya for novelty, but when it invites five that suggests that the organizers think race thought is a virtue. Brennan was not an organizer but knows several of the guests who advocate race science or eugenics]]

Brennan does not seem to have advocated that humans should be bred for intelligence, some races have smarter genes than other races, or people with bad genes should stop reproducing, as a number of prominent EAs and rationalists have.<ref>[https://reflectivealtruism.com/2025/04/18/human-biodiversity-part-7-lesswrong/ Human Biodiversity (Part 7: LessWrong)], ''Reflective Altruism'', April 18, 2025</ref> Brennan's only visible connection to the far right or neoreaction is LessOnline 2024, a gathering of rationalist bloggers before a networking event for race cranks called [[Manifest]] 2024.<ref>https://less.online/ archived on [https://web.archive.org/web/20250106004848/https://less.online/ archive.org]</ref> Fellow LessOnline guests [[Scott Alexander]], Crémieux Recueil, GeneSmith, [[Aella]], and [[Eliezer Yudkowsky]] have all said disturbing things about race and IQ or proposed cartoonish programs to breed a better mankind, but Brennan does not appear to have written anything similar. Brennan has no known connections to [[cryptocurrency]]. As of 2025 Brennan still criticizes books by [[Pickup artist|pickup artists]] (but recommends a book by Mark Manson that gives quite specific advice for men to attract women: rationalists and Effective Altruists are fascinated by ways to get people to give you what they want, which they sometimes call 'social dynamics' and are linked to their fear that AI could con them like they believe they can con normies).<ref>[https://thingofthings.substack.com/p/book-review-daygame-mastery "Book Review: Daygame Mastery,"] Thing of Things substack, April 18, 2025</ref><ref>[https://www.effectivealtruism.org/articles/ea-global-2018-building-support-for-wild-animal-suffering "Building Support for Wild Animal Suffering,"] effectivealtruism.org {{quotebox|one of the things that is really important for me in communicating about wild animal suffering is that I very much try to be authentic and I try to say the things that I genuinely believe. I think that there's a real tendency for people to be like, “Oh no. We have to say things that are really calculated to appeal to everyone.” And I don't think that that's a good way to grow a movement.}}</ref> While many bad ideas spread among rationalists and effective altruists, not every individual EA or rationalist advocates for each idea.

==Views on sex and gender==

Brennan has written many times that people should treat others as the gender that they say they are, but that biological sex is important and phrases like "people with vaginas" for "people with XX chromosomes who produce eggs" are awkward.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20150107064916/http://thingofthings.wordpress.com/2014/12/27/a-plea-to-the-trans-community/</ref><ref>https://thingofthings.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-trans-inclusive-importance</ref><ref>https://thingofthings.substack.com/p/on-intersex-athletes-in-the-olympics</ref> On the Internet, expressing these commonplace views would typically summon people who scream [[TERF]], except that Brennan is trans and identifies as a feminist.  

== See also==
*[[Aella]], another rationalist blogger with sex advice and a nurturing tone

== External links ==
*[https://asteriskmag.com/issues/11/why-are-there-so-many-rationalist-cults Why Are There So Many Rationalist Cults?] by Ozy Brennan
*[https://www.avabear.xyz/ Ava, ''Bookbear Express''], a rationalist matchmaker

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brenna, Ozy}}

[[Category:Effective altruists]]
[[Category:Futurism]]
[[Category:LessWrong]]
[[Category:Feminists]]
[[Category:Rationalism]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Bloggers]]
[[Category:Sexuality]]
[[Category:Self help]]

Categories: Effective altruists, Futurism, LessWrong, Feminists, Rationalism, Living people, Bloggers, Sexuality, Self help