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What Is 'TPOT' On Twitter? 'Grey Tribe' Twitter And It's Connection To Suspected UHC Shooter Luigi Mangione Explained
Several Americans engaged in the timeless tradition of trying to unravel a notorious shooter's incoherent politics this week, with internet sleuths spending all day poring over the digital records of the suspected UnitedHealthcare CEO assassin, Luigi Mangione.
Among their findings was what many people believe was Mangione's Twitter / X account, which shows him engaging with some classic "TPOT" and "PostRat" adjacent accounts, the likes of which include Lindy Man, former Effective Altruism proponents and Aella simps.
But not everyone is familiar with the post-rationalist tech-adjacent community that sprung out of COVID-era Twitter discourse. Here's your refresher on TPOT, also known as "This Part Of Twitter," and the suspected shooter Luigi Mangione's connection to it.
What Does 'TPOT' Mean, And When Did The Community First Develop?
"TPOT" or "This Part of Twitter" refers to a centralized Twitter / X community of science and tech-minded users that also showed an avid interest in things like biohacking and personal optimization, as embodied by personalities like Lex Fridman, Bryan Johnson and Andrew Huberman.
This community formed sometime around the COVID-19 lockdown and is marked by its interest in "post-rationalist" thought such as spiritualism, occultism and fringe conspiracy theories.
What Is The 'Grey Tribe' and How Is Luigi Mangione Connected To It?
The phrase "Grey Tribe" was coined by prominent TPOT personality and poster @slatestarcodex way back in 2014. "Grey Tribe" members are typically libertarian, health conscious and technocratic men associated with a Silicon Valley crowd that's nonetheless fascinated with new-age spiritualism. This is the community many people are associating Luigi Mangione with.
Soon after Luigi Mangione was arrested under suspicion of being the UHC CEO shooter, several internet users pored over his Twitter presence to try and unravel his motivations.
They found that Mangione regularly interacted with members of the TPOT community, reposted Lindy Man proverbs, and also showed a vague appreciation for conservative tech billionaire Peter Thiel.
How Did Twitter Users React To Learning About The Suspected Shooter's TPOT Connection?
Several internet users and TPOT posters expressed surprise and confusion about the suspected shooter sharing some of their intellectual beliefs, with many posting through their shock soon after Mangione was identified and arrested.
For the full history of the TPOT, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.
