It seems to me like our views interact as follows, then:
I say that in the absence of open and lively criticism, bad ideas proliferate, echo chambers are built, and discussion degenerates into streams of sheer nonsense.
You say that in the presence of [what I call] open and lively criticism, authors get tired of dealing with their critics, and withdraw into “safer” spaces.
Perhaps we are both right. What guarantee is there, that this problem can be solved at all? Who promised us that a solution could be found? Must there be a “middle way”, that avoids the better part of both forms of failure? I do not see any reason to be certain of that…
Suppose we accept this pessimistic view. What does that imply, for charting the way forward?
I don’t know. I have only speculations. Here is one:
Perhaps we ought to consider, not the effects of our choice of norms on behavior of given authors, but rather two things:
For what sorts of authors, and for what sorts of ideas, does either sort of norm (when implemented in a public space like Less Wrong) select?
What effects, then, does either sort of norm have, on public consensus, publicly widespread ideas, etc.?
It seems to me like our views interact as follows, then:
I say that in the absence of open and lively criticism, bad ideas proliferate, echo chambers are built, and discussion degenerates into streams of sheer nonsense.
You say that in the presence of [what I call] open and lively criticism, authors get tired of dealing with their critics, and withdraw into “safer” spaces.
Perhaps we are both right. What guarantee is there, that this problem can be solved at all? Who promised us that a solution could be found? Must there be a “middle way”, that avoids the better part of both forms of failure? I do not see any reason to be certain of that…
Suppose we accept this pessimistic view. What does that imply, for charting the way forward?
I don’t know. I have only speculations. Here is one:
Perhaps we ought to consider, not the effects of our choice of norms on behavior of given authors, but rather two things:
For what sorts of authors, and for what sorts of ideas, does either sort of norm (when implemented in a public space like Less Wrong) select?
What effects, then, does either sort of norm have, on public consensus, publicly widespread ideas, etc.?