You’re getting downvoted for overconfidence, not for the content of your point of view.
The utilitarian point of view is that beyond some level of salary, more money has very small marginal utility to an average First World citizen, but would have a huge direct impact in utility on people who are starving in poor countries.
Your point is that the indirect impacts should also be considered, and that perhaps when they are taken into account the net utility increase isn’t so clear. The main indirect impact you identify is increasing dependency on the part of the recipients.
Your concern for the autonomy of these starving people is splendid, but the fact remains that without aid their lives will be full of suffering. Your position appears to be “good riddance”. You can’t fault people for being offended at the implied lack of compassion.
I suspect that your appeal for sympathy towards your position is doubly likely to fall on deaf ears as a result. Losing two karma points isn’t the end of the world, and does not constitute suppression. Stop complaining, and invest some effort in presenting your points of view more persuasively.
You’re getting downvoted for overconfidence, not for the content of your point of view.
If denis is just being overconfident, couldn’t we just say “you’re being overconfident here, probably because you neglected to consider …” and reserve downvotes for trolls and nonsense (i.e., comments that clearly deserve to be hidden from view)?
Downvotes signal “would like to see fewer comments like this one”. This certainly applies to trolls and nonsense, but it feels appropriate to use the same signal for comments which, if the author had taken a little more time to compose, readers wouldn’t need to spend time correcting one way or another. The calculation I’ve seen at least once here (and I tend to agree with) is that you should value your readers’ time about 10x more than you value yours.
The appropriate thing to do if you receive downvotes and you’re neither a troll nor a crackpot seems to simply ask what’s wrong. Complaining only makes things worse. Complaining that the community is exhibiting censorship or groupthink makes things much worse.
Looking at the comment in question, Denis claims that charity “only” rewards bad things and discourages good ones. That is nonsense on its face, and it’s combined with mind-killing politics: ideological libertarianism about the immorality of paying taxes that benefit those labelled dysfunctional. I agree with Robin Hanson on this point.
You’re getting downvoted for overconfidence, not for the content of your point of view.
The utilitarian point of view is that beyond some level of salary, more money has very small marginal utility to an average First World citizen, but would have a huge direct impact in utility on people who are starving in poor countries.
Your point is that the indirect impacts should also be considered, and that perhaps when they are taken into account the net utility increase isn’t so clear. The main indirect impact you identify is increasing dependency on the part of the recipients.
Your concern for the autonomy of these starving people is splendid, but the fact remains that without aid their lives will be full of suffering. Your position appears to be “good riddance”. You can’t fault people for being offended at the implied lack of compassion.
I suspect that your appeal for sympathy towards your position is doubly likely to fall on deaf ears as a result. Losing two karma points isn’t the end of the world, and does not constitute suppression. Stop complaining, and invest some effort in presenting your points of view more persuasively.
If denis is just being overconfident, couldn’t we just say “you’re being overconfident here, probably because you neglected to consider …” and reserve downvotes for trolls and nonsense (i.e., comments that clearly deserve to be hidden from view)?
Downvotes signal “would like to see fewer comments like this one”. This certainly applies to trolls and nonsense, but it feels appropriate to use the same signal for comments which, if the author had taken a little more time to compose, readers wouldn’t need to spend time correcting one way or another. The calculation I’ve seen at least once here (and I tend to agree with) is that you should value your readers’ time about 10x more than you value yours.
The appropriate thing to do if you receive downvotes and you’re neither a troll nor a crackpot seems to simply ask what’s wrong. Complaining only makes things worse. Complaining that the community is exhibiting censorship or groupthink makes things much worse.
Looking at the comment in question, Denis claims that charity “only” rewards bad things and discourages good ones. That is nonsense on its face, and it’s combined with mind-killing politics: ideological libertarianism about the immorality of paying taxes that benefit those labelled dysfunctional. I agree with Robin Hanson on this point.