I agree but I’m not very optimistic about anything changing. Eliezer is often this caustic when correcting what he perceives as basic errors, and criticism in LW comments is why he stopped writing Sequences posts.
Personal communication (sorry). Not that I know him well, this was at an event in 2022. It could have been a “straw that broke the camel’s back” thing with other contributing factors, like reaching diminishing returns on more content. I’d appreciate a real source too.
Counterpoint: This sort of thing seems more efficient for my brain to take in, compared to if it were phrased in a more “friendly” way. At least if that’d mean a long-winded and less passionate phrasing that relies more on the reader’s own motivation to pay attention.
It’s true that this quote is more suitable for informal chat than the front page, but also, a community must be free to be caustic about some things it finds sufficiently basic, else it gets watered down. Sometimes a caustic tone serves a purpose for the current readers.
So there’s a balancing act, where the balance Eliezer strikes tends to cause a new discussion about tone, again and again, and I imagine it gets a bit discouraging after the tenth such comment thread.
I agree but I’m not very optimistic about anything changing. Eliezer is often this caustic when correcting what he perceives as basic errors, and criticism in LW comments is why he stopped writing Sequences posts.
I wasn’t aware of this and would like more information. Can anyone provide a source, or report their agreement or disagreement with the claim?
Personal communication (sorry). Not that I know him well, this was at an event in 2022. It could have been a “straw that broke the camel’s back” thing with other contributing factors, like reaching diminishing returns on more content. I’d appreciate a real source too.
Counterpoint: This sort of thing seems more efficient for my brain to take in, compared to if it were phrased in a more “friendly” way. At least if that’d mean a long-winded and less passionate phrasing that relies more on the reader’s own motivation to pay attention.
It’s true that this quote is more suitable for informal chat than the front page, but also, a community must be free to be caustic about some things it finds sufficiently basic, else it gets watered down. Sometimes a caustic tone serves a purpose for the current readers.
So there’s a balancing act, where the balance Eliezer strikes tends to cause a new discussion about tone, again and again, and I imagine it gets a bit discouraging after the tenth such comment thread.