I’m going to go ahead and generalize from one example. While technically a ‘success’ since I am aware of Less Wrong, I would say I’m right on the border between the group of people who read LW and those who wouldn’t. I share an interest in rationality (and somewhat less so with AI) but rest of the LW ‘community knowledge’ is very foreign to me. I never really read or watched science fiction (beyond maybe Sliders and the X-Files) and am only barely aware that fan-fiction exists . I’ve never had trouble socially and rarely feel awkward. The jargon is, at times, distancing but I think ultimately worth it. (The inherent trade-off between efficiency/precision and accessibility.) I imagine (with some prejudice) that LW is populated with people who refer to themselves as ‘gamers’ or who go LARPing or play Dungeon and Dragons (<- I think this is the first time I’ve ever typed the word ‘Dungeon’) or enjoy Monty Python. Things which, in my mind, are classified as ‘nerd/geek/dork’ things. (I’ve never quite understood the differences between these appellations.)
This, for me, is a very strange and alien world. Most (all?) groups have a cannon of knowledge/shared culture that you pretty much need to know to fit in. W.r.t. the mathematics and statistics, I’m right on board. Even a lot of the science I am up to speed on (or can become so). But I don’t know all the other stuff, and my only incentive to learn it is to navigate LW world. I don’t mean for any of this to be insulting, but I think if LW is to move forward, we are probably going to need to attract people like me, who also might have these stereotypes and prejudices. I don’t know what the solution might be, but that’s my perspective.
I’m definitely in the cluster of people you’re describing (though my sci-fi background is pretty lacking), but I haven’t noticed any particular references to them in most posts. I hope I’m not just totally blind...
Where are you seeing the cultural references? Comments? Do you mean the transhumanisty stuff?
That’s a good question. Off the top of my head, I can’t point to any specific post or comment. I could go through a look for examples, but that feels like clever arguing.
Maybe a better approach could be to just continue reading and make a note of whenever I see an example?
Like most stereotypes, this is something that just sorta “feels” true. But it also “feels” like it comes out more so in the comments than in the posts. This raises a couples issues. First, is it actually true? Second, if it isn’t true, why does it “feel” true? Third, should we and could we do anything about it?
I doubt that a site that expects to entertain with college level math comprehension is ever going to ditch that image completely, but it should definitely be a goal.
I’m going to go ahead and generalize from one example. While technically a ‘success’ since I am aware of Less Wrong, I would say I’m right on the border between the group of people who read LW and those who wouldn’t. I share an interest in rationality (and somewhat less so with AI) but rest of the LW ‘community knowledge’ is very foreign to me. I never really read or watched science fiction (beyond maybe Sliders and the X-Files) and am only barely aware that fan-fiction exists . I’ve never had trouble socially and rarely feel awkward. The jargon is, at times, distancing but I think ultimately worth it. (The inherent trade-off between efficiency/precision and accessibility.) I imagine (with some prejudice) that LW is populated with people who refer to themselves as ‘gamers’ or who go LARPing or play Dungeon and Dragons (<- I think this is the first time I’ve ever typed the word ‘Dungeon’) or enjoy Monty Python. Things which, in my mind, are classified as ‘nerd/geek/dork’ things. (I’ve never quite understood the differences between these appellations.)
This, for me, is a very strange and alien world. Most (all?) groups have a cannon of knowledge/shared culture that you pretty much need to know to fit in. W.r.t. the mathematics and statistics, I’m right on board. Even a lot of the science I am up to speed on (or can become so). But I don’t know all the other stuff, and my only incentive to learn it is to navigate LW world. I don’t mean for any of this to be insulting, but I think if LW is to move forward, we are probably going to need to attract people like me, who also might have these stereotypes and prejudices. I don’t know what the solution might be, but that’s my perspective.
I’m definitely in the cluster of people you’re describing (though my sci-fi background is pretty lacking), but I haven’t noticed any particular references to them in most posts. I hope I’m not just totally blind...
Where are you seeing the cultural references? Comments? Do you mean the transhumanisty stuff?
That’s a good question. Off the top of my head, I can’t point to any specific post or comment. I could go through a look for examples, but that feels like clever arguing.
Maybe a better approach could be to just continue reading and make a note of whenever I see an example?
Like most stereotypes, this is something that just sorta “feels” true. But it also “feels” like it comes out more so in the comments than in the posts. This raises a couples issues. First, is it actually true? Second, if it isn’t true, why does it “feel” true? Third, should we and could we do anything about it?
I doubt that a site that expects to entertain with college level math comprehension is ever going to ditch that image completely, but it should definitely be a goal.