Yes, for example, if we find that many female LW converts come from a My Little Pony forum, then I wouldn’t mind some spending time talking about rationality and how perhaps the characters in the show relate to it (that’s what I’ve heard anyway). I might spend time doing that, instead of reading articles from google reader.
Or, if we find that many of the converts come from HPMoR, I might try recommending it to fans of Harry Potter that I know. And so on.
Except the most important one, how smart people spend their time matters a lot.
We all spend time on stupid or meaningless things. I haven’t seen many people that can spend 8-12 hours of their day working on a difficult problem without needing a cognitive break. Some people watch anime, others read interesting but irrelevant articles, and so on. I don’t see a problem with do something trivial (with the potential for being meaningful) in one of those cognitive breaks. Actually, it would seem to be a better use of time.
So we are seeking for ways to spend our down time, that happen to produce some externalities that we like? Considering there is a wide variety of ways to spend one’s down time, the same logic applies, only that now we need to optimize for restfulness, entertainment and other functions that down time serves as well.
Also remember that for most people nearly everything we do on this site is leisure time. That happens to have positive externalities (or so we like to think).
In any case isn’t this shifting the goalpost slightly from where we where a bit back?
However, like I implied in a previous comment in this thread, it’s more to do with wanting more women in this community.
I think if one of goals of LessWrong is to spread rationality, it’s in its interest to diversify its culture and population.
I understood our conversation as being about how wanting more women is an intuition we should act upon, perhaps changing norms and expending effort in planned way, because of the pay-offs of better signalling.
So we are seeking for ways to spend our down time that happens to produce some externalities that we like?
Yes, if you want more women in the community, or if you just want to diversify the culture, or if you want to contribute to better signaling for your community.
Considering there is a wide variety of ways to spend one’s down time, the same logic applies, only that now we need to optimize for restfulness, entertainment and other functions that down time serves as well.
Have you found a way to optimize for any of those? And is it more useful to spend time optimizing for those factors than just going with your immediate desires?
No, I don’t it’s shifting the goalpost. Wanting more women is not intuitional, it’s a desire. A desire that should be ignored if it’s dangerous, but I don’t see that it is. Otherwise, I say satisfy those desires in your cognitive breaks (e.g., watching anime). Also, I think, however, that that kind of desire leads to satisfying the goal of spreading rationality.
So, we all have desires. We all have spare time that spend satisfying more trivial desires. I believe one of the goals in this community is to spread rationality. Some people have taken up that goal. If you desire more woman in this community, it’s not unreasonable (maybe not optimal, but I doubt any of us spend our leisure time optimally, so that’s a bit of a red herring) ask the existing women how they got here, so that you may try to persuade more women to join this community through similar channels. This satisfied the spreading rationality goal and desire, or it may just satisfy the goal of spreading rationality in that strengthens the community and its appearance. I’m arguing for the weaker justification because I don’t have sufficient evidence for the latter case.
So, we all have desires. We all have spare time that spend satisfying more trivial desires. I believe one of the goals in this community is to spread rationality. Some people have taken up that goal. If you desire more woman in this community, it’s not unreasonable (maybe not optimal, but I doubt any of us spend our leisure time optimally, so that’s a bit of a red herring) ask the existing women how they got here, so that you may try to persuade more women to join this community through similar channels.
...
I’m arguing for the weaker justification because I don’t have sufficient evidence for the latter case.
You are proposing we expend effort in order to provide gain. Have you asked yourself the following questions:
What would be the cost of doing this?
Instead of what?
If not, is there any evidence this is a cost effective strategy for “not being ignored”?
Yes, for example, if we find that many female LW converts come from a My Little Pony forum, then I wouldn’t mind some spending time talking about rationality and how perhaps the characters in the show relate to it (that’s what I’ve heard anyway). I might spend time doing that, instead of reading articles from google reader.
Or, if we find that many of the converts come from HPMoR, I might try recommending it to fans of Harry Potter that I know. And so on.
The costs seem trivial.
We are typing words on the internet. All costs are trivial. Except the most important one, how smart people spend their time matters a lot.
We all spend time on stupid or meaningless things. I haven’t seen many people that can spend 8-12 hours of their day working on a difficult problem without needing a cognitive break. Some people watch anime, others read interesting but irrelevant articles, and so on. I don’t see a problem with do something trivial (with the potential for being meaningful) in one of those cognitive breaks. Actually, it would seem to be a better use of time.
So we are seeking for ways to spend our down time, that happen to produce some externalities that we like? Considering there is a wide variety of ways to spend one’s down time, the same logic applies, only that now we need to optimize for restfulness, entertainment and other functions that down time serves as well.
Also remember that for most people nearly everything we do on this site is leisure time. That happens to have positive externalities (or so we like to think).
In any case isn’t this shifting the goalpost slightly from where we where a bit back?
I understood our conversation as being about how wanting more women is an intuition we should act upon, perhaps changing norms and expending effort in planned way, because of the pay-offs of better signalling.
Yes, if you want more women in the community, or if you just want to diversify the culture, or if you want to contribute to better signaling for your community.
Have you found a way to optimize for any of those? And is it more useful to spend time optimizing for those factors than just going with your immediate desires?
No, I don’t it’s shifting the goalpost. Wanting more women is not intuitional, it’s a desire. A desire that should be ignored if it’s dangerous, but I don’t see that it is. Otherwise, I say satisfy those desires in your cognitive breaks (e.g., watching anime). Also, I think, however, that that kind of desire leads to satisfying the goal of spreading rationality.
So, we all have desires. We all have spare time that spend satisfying more trivial desires. I believe one of the goals in this community is to spread rationality. Some people have taken up that goal. If you desire more woman in this community, it’s not unreasonable (maybe not optimal, but I doubt any of us spend our leisure time optimally, so that’s a bit of a red herring) ask the existing women how they got here, so that you may try to persuade more women to join this community through similar channels. This satisfied the spreading rationality goal and desire, or it may just satisfy the goal of spreading rationality in that strengthens the community and its appearance. I’m arguing for the weaker justification because I don’t have sufficient evidence for the latter case.
I think I agree with the weaker justification.