> Scott's real name has been easily findable for at least a year, based on his own words. So I don't understand why he went full nuclear.
Findable in the opposite direction, and that is an important difference.
If you know about Scott's private life, you can find his job. But if you only know about his profession and full name, googling for his full name will show you his professional life, not his private life.
There are many Scotts, many Alexanders, even many Scott Alexanders, and some of them are relatively famous (there is a screenwriten, and a baseball player). Unless you already read Scott's blog, there is no reason to assume he would be the same person as the doctor you are looking for, and the blog will not be shown on the first page of results for his full name.
But if NYT publishes the article as originally planned, when Scott's potential patients enter his full name in search engine, the article about him and his blog can easily be the first result. This is exactly the outcome Scott wants to avoid.
Findable in the opposite direction, and that is an important difference.
If you know about Scott's private life, you can find his job. But if you only know about his profession and full name, googling for his full name will show you his professional life, not his private life.
There are many Scotts, many Alexanders, even many Scott Alexanders, and some of them are relatively famous (there is a screenwriten, and a baseball player). Unless you already read Scott's blog, there is no reason to assume he would be the same person as the doctor you are looking for, and the blog will not be shown on the first page of results for his full name.
But if NYT publishes the article as originally planned, when Scott's potential patients enter his full name in search engine, the article about him and his blog can easily be the first result. This is exactly the outcome Scott wants to avoid.