I understand the vilibility->optimization effect and I, too, feel the pull. However, I often make commenting or posting decisions which I expect to be karma-suboptimal, and so do many others here. Or at least that’s what I think I do. Much more often now than when I first started participating here. I assume that Kaj, with over 30k karma, would care even less about maximizing karma.
I assume that Kaj, with over 30k karma, would care even less about maximizing karma.
I certainly can’t speak for Kaj, but I’d hesitate to assume that people with a lot of karma care less about getting more of it. After all, caring a lot about karma is likely to increase someone’s chances of getting a lot of karma in the first place.
However, I often make commenting or posting decisions which I expect to be karma-suboptimal, and so do many others here.
As do I- I try to keep my upvote percentage on recent comments high, and so sometimes will avoid controversial subjects (unless it’s one of the controversial subjects that I have decided to always discuss, in which case I still try to comport myself in a way that minimizes downvotes), even though a +3-2 comment would result in an additional point of total karma.
But the primary impact karma-maximization has on me is it urgifies generating valuable content for LessWrong. I finished my Decision Analysis sequence as quickly as I did because doing so put me at the top of the Top Contributors, 30 Days list (which was only 5 people back in 2011), and if I had delayed the first post would have slipped to more than 30 days ago, and I wouldn’t have had enough to leap over lukeprog. I kept notes and wrote book reviews when before I would have just read books. And so on.
Huh, I guess some of us are rather more competitive than others… I treat the 30-day karma list about the same way I treat the points earned by my favorite sports team: something to enjoy when it’s up, but not something to base my decisions on.
Huh, I guess some of us are rather more competitive than others...
I tend to only use competitiveness as an instrumental goal, and so it only shows up sometimes.
I treat the 30-day karma list about the same way I treat the points earned by my favorite sports team: something to enjoy when it’s up, but not something to base my decisions on.
I think this should change when you are on your favorite sports team, or you’re not playing sports correctly :P
I understand the vilibility->optimization effect and I, too, feel the pull. However, I often make commenting or posting decisions which I expect to be karma-suboptimal, and so do many others here. Or at least that’s what I think I do. Much more often now than when I first started participating here. I assume that Kaj, with over 30k karma, would care even less about maximizing karma.
I certainly can’t speak for Kaj, but I’d hesitate to assume that people with a lot of karma care less about getting more of it. After all, caring a lot about karma is likely to increase someone’s chances of getting a lot of karma in the first place.
As do I- I try to keep my upvote percentage on recent comments high, and so sometimes will avoid controversial subjects (unless it’s one of the controversial subjects that I have decided to always discuss, in which case I still try to comport myself in a way that minimizes downvotes), even though a +3-2 comment would result in an additional point of total karma.
But the primary impact karma-maximization has on me is it urgifies generating valuable content for LessWrong. I finished my Decision Analysis sequence as quickly as I did because doing so put me at the top of the Top Contributors, 30 Days list (which was only 5 people back in 2011), and if I had delayed the first post would have slipped to more than 30 days ago, and I wouldn’t have had enough to leap over lukeprog. I kept notes and wrote book reviews when before I would have just read books. And so on.
Huh, I guess some of us are rather more competitive than others… I treat the 30-day karma list about the same way I treat the points earned by my favorite sports team: something to enjoy when it’s up, but not something to base my decisions on.
I tend to only use competitiveness as an instrumental goal, and so it only shows up sometimes.
I think this should change when you are on your favorite sports team, or you’re not playing sports correctly :P
That’s my point, I am not playing for the team Karma, though I am a fan.