Smart people can accidentally create echo chambers.

Smart people are very good at engaging with a diversity of arguments, and producing an argument that wins on the merits.

As a result, they tend to win many arguments.

The arguments they don't win count as disconfirming evidence they can use to get smarter.

They can also use the rate-of-argument-failure to calibrate how well they understand a given domain.

But now imagine that person–partially based on the strength of their arguments–accumulates lots of formal power.

Now, some proportion of arguments they're winning because they're right, and some portion they're winning because they're the boss.

But crucially both situations will feel the same to the boss.

As the proportion of arguments they win due to being the boss increases, it will have a chilling effect.

People will be less willing to bring up arguments they know will be overridden, so they just don't do it.

The boss is still engaging with disconfirming evidence… they're just getting much less of it.

It's easy to erroneously think "My arguments must be good because no one has pointed out where they might be wrong."

As this accelerates, it can create a supercritical state.

The boss has accidentally created a machine for manufacturing confirmation.