That’s the sort of thing it’s useful to just downvote (or otherwise discourage, if we’re making a new system), no matter how nicely it may be said, because no productive discussion can come of it.
When it’s useful it’s useful, when it’s damaging it’s damaging, It’s damaging when the sequences don’t actually solve the problem. The outside view is that all too often one is directed to the sequences only to find that the selfsame objection one has made has also been made in the comments and has not been answered. It’s just too easy to silently downvote, or write “read the sequences”. In an alternative universe there is a LW where people don’t RTFS unless they have carefully checked that the problem has really been resolved, rather than superficially pattern matching. And the overuse of RTFS is precisely what feeds the impression that LW is a cult...that’s where the damage is coming from.
Unfortunately, although all of that is fixable, it cannot be fixed without “debating philosophy”.
ETA
Most of the suggestions here have been about changing the social organisation of LW, or changing the technology. There is a third option which is much bolder than than of those: redoing rationality. Treat the sequences as a version 0.0 in need of improvement. That’s a big project which will provide focus, and send a costly signal of anti-cultishness, because cults don’t revise doctrine.
I’m not sure so what you mean. Developing Sequences 0.1 can be done with the help of technology, but it can’t be done without community effort, and without a rethink of the status of the sequences.
When it’s useful it’s useful, when it’s damaging it’s damaging, It’s damaging when the sequences don’t actually solve the problem. The outside view is that all too often one is directed to the sequences only to find that the selfsame objection one has made has also been made in the comments and has not been answered. It’s just too easy to silently downvote, or write “read the sequences”. In an alternative universe there is a LW where people don’t RTFS unless they have carefully checked that the problem has really been resolved, rather than superficially pattern matching. And the overuse of RTFS is precisely what feeds the impression that LW is a cult...that’s where the damage is coming from.
Unfortunately, although all of that is fixable, it cannot be fixed without “debating philosophy”.
ETA
Most of the suggestions here have been about changing the social organisation of LW, or changing the technology. There is a third option which is much bolder than than of those: redoing rationality. Treat the sequences as a version 0.0 in need of improvement. That’s a big project which will provide focus, and send a costly signal of anti-cultishness, because cults don’t revise doctrine.
Good point. I actually think this can be fixed with software. StackExchange features are part of the answer.
I’m not sure so what you mean. Developing Sequences 0.1 can be done with the help of technology, but it can’t be done without community effort, and without a rethink of the status of the sequences.