I think it’s a bad idea to say this every time a new discussion about sex/gender comes up. If each time such a post is made, someone posts “there is no way this will go well” and everyone stops posting, then it is literally impossible for the conversation to go anywhere. I think it’s much more valuable to have bad posts if those enable good posts to also exist, instead of just having no posts on the topic.
At the very least, wait UNTIL the thread descends into shittiness, and then lock it, instead of preemptively banning on all conversation on a subject that is vitally important to the happiness of many.
I think it’s much more valuable to have bad posts if those enable good posts to also exist, instead of just having no posts on the topic.
I disagree with this assumption. Discussions can have a net negative contribution to knowledge and understanding even if all their parts aren’t uniformly negative. It seems to me that this is especially true on LW, since as long as there is no breakdown of discussion and everything looks nice and polite, people here tend to walk away believing that they’ve just participated in a sterling exercise in rationality and clear thinking, even if it’s actually been a bad death spiral. That’s my opinion, at least.
then WORK to make that not happen. Maybe you’re scared of being confrontational with people you think are wrong, because of lowered status or whatever, but if we’re trying to be rational in general, then we should try to come to a rational consensus on a topic that’s controversial, as WELL as all the easy topics you can be rational about. You can say you don’t think it’s worth your time to try and bring rationality to this area, but in that case you can just shut up and post in other discussions, at no cost to yourself.
but in that case you can just shut up and post in other discussions, at no cost to yourself.
The implications of this being done regularly are significant. In fact, that’s the core point Vladimir_M has made. I don’t think you have understood the issues even remotely or read Vladimir_M’s comments clearly.
Well, it’s not like I just showed up and started saying these things. I have written dozens, if not hundreds of comments in threads that dealt with these topics in the past, and I speak from experience. (In fact, before I understood the reality of the situation, I was even saying similar things myself to more experienced people who suggested that such topics are best avoided.) Unfortunately, it simply doesn’t work—you can either ignore the happy death spirals or try to inject some reality and almost inevitably cause bitter controversy and bad blood.
At the very least, wait UNTIL the thread descends into shittiness, and then lock it, instead of preemptively banning on all conversation on a subject that is vitally important to the happiness of many.
We don’t lock threads at all, as far as I’m aware. Delete them sure. Swear and abuse those who post them perhaps but never lock them.
I think it’s a bad idea to say this every time a new discussion about sex/gender comes up. If each time such a post is made, someone posts “there is no way this will go well” and everyone stops posting, then it is literally impossible for the conversation to go anywhere. I think it’s much more valuable to have bad posts if those enable good posts to also exist, instead of just having no posts on the topic.
At the very least, wait UNTIL the thread descends into shittiness, and then lock it, instead of preemptively banning on all conversation on a subject that is vitally important to the happiness of many.
I disagree with this assumption. Discussions can have a net negative contribution to knowledge and understanding even if all their parts aren’t uniformly negative. It seems to me that this is especially true on LW, since as long as there is no breakdown of discussion and everything looks nice and polite, people here tend to walk away believing that they’ve just participated in a sterling exercise in rationality and clear thinking, even if it’s actually been a bad death spiral. That’s my opinion, at least.
then WORK to make that not happen. Maybe you’re scared of being confrontational with people you think are wrong, because of lowered status or whatever, but if we’re trying to be rational in general, then we should try to come to a rational consensus on a topic that’s controversial, as WELL as all the easy topics you can be rational about. You can say you don’t think it’s worth your time to try and bring rationality to this area, but in that case you can just shut up and post in other discussions, at no cost to yourself.
The implications of this being done regularly are significant. In fact, that’s the core point Vladimir_M has made. I don’t think you have understood the issues even remotely or read Vladimir_M’s comments clearly.
Well, it’s not like I just showed up and started saying these things. I have written dozens, if not hundreds of comments in threads that dealt with these topics in the past, and I speak from experience. (In fact, before I understood the reality of the situation, I was even saying similar things myself to more experienced people who suggested that such topics are best avoided.) Unfortunately, it simply doesn’t work—you can either ignore the happy death spirals or try to inject some reality and almost inevitably cause bitter controversy and bad blood.
We don’t lock threads at all, as far as I’m aware. Delete them sure. Swear and abuse those who post them perhaps but never lock them.
Bad idea. That’s never been worth it for any thread I’ve seen.