This seems like an unfortunately broad list especially because some of them are closely connected to areas where easy improvement would exist were it not for cultural taboos. To use just one example:
anything that goes on in your bathroom
Yet, due essentially to this taboo in the general population there are massive problems with bathroom design and how we use them and there are real health and efficiency issues. And that article doesn’t even begin to discuss the simple and very minor change of having a curbless shower which can easily save lives.
It seems like a lot of your list comes down to “there’s already a taboo here so let’s keep it for LW also.”
Well, the whole point of the discussion is to create a FAQ for new users to make it easier for them to get started using LW. While there probably are ways to approach those topics in a thoughtful and considerate way, I certainly would be hesitant to want to try and figure out how to do so, and I would certainly encourage new users to avoid broaching them as well. It seems like the consensus of the community comes down to “we know there’s a taboo here but taboos are a bias so let’s just not say anything, and let’s not give anybody guidance on how to deal with these taboos; instead wait until somebody triggers this bias in us, and downvote them.” They can then rely on guess and check even though we know this is an incredibly inefficient way to learn.
And yes, I think people who broach these taboos will have a more difficult time getting positive comments in these areas than in more traditional areas of LessWrong discourse. It’s possibly incorrect to discourage certain forms of discussion; the present tact seems to be to encourage certain forms of discussion. But this has its own drawbacks as well.
This seems like an unfortunately broad list especially because some of them are closely connected to areas where easy improvement would exist were it not for cultural taboos. To use just one example:
Yet, due essentially to this taboo in the general population there are massive problems with bathroom design and how we use them and there are real health and efficiency issues. And that article doesn’t even begin to discuss the simple and very minor change of having a curbless shower which can easily save lives.
It seems like a lot of your list comes down to “there’s already a taboo here so let’s keep it for LW also.”
Well, the whole point of the discussion is to create a FAQ for new users to make it easier for them to get started using LW. While there probably are ways to approach those topics in a thoughtful and considerate way, I certainly would be hesitant to want to try and figure out how to do so, and I would certainly encourage new users to avoid broaching them as well. It seems like the consensus of the community comes down to “we know there’s a taboo here but taboos are a bias so let’s just not say anything, and let’s not give anybody guidance on how to deal with these taboos; instead wait until somebody triggers this bias in us, and downvote them.” They can then rely on guess and check even though we know this is an incredibly inefficient way to learn.
And yes, I think people who broach these taboos will have a more difficult time getting positive comments in these areas than in more traditional areas of LessWrong discourse. It’s possibly incorrect to discourage certain forms of discussion; the present tact seems to be to encourage certain forms of discussion. But this has its own drawbacks as well.