Basically, the problem is that the idea of a general forum that attempts to apply no-holds-barred rational thinking to all sorts of sundry topics is unworkable.
What’s scarier, the idea of a conceptual apparatus that attempts to apply no-holds-barred rational thinking to all sorts of sundry topics may to an extent be unworkable. If the deniers of high-status-falsehood-1 all started using some catchy phrase (of the sort that LW has lots of), and then the deniers of high-status-falsehood-2 started using that phrase too, both would start smelling like the other and seem crazier for it. (This is one of the considerations that make me not want to try getting around these restrictions with pseudonyms.) On the other hand, of course, there are a number of concepts to fall back on that basically can’t be corrupted because they’re used all the time by e.g. probability theorists obviously lacking any agenda.
I disagree, however, with your characterization of option (1) as “forgoing some minor novel insights on a topic that affects most people’s life decisions only very indirectly.”
When I said that, I was thinking of the “do women like nice guys or jerks” question specifically. I wouldn’t say politically-charged topics hardly affect people’s lives as a blanket statement, though I think it’s true in a great many cases. But your reading was the more natural one and I apologize for being unclear.
What’s scarier, the idea of a conceptual apparatus that attempts to apply no-holds-barred rational thinking to all sorts of sundry topics may to an extent be unworkable. If the deniers of high-status-falsehood-1 all started using some catchy phrase (of the sort that LW has lots of), and then the deniers of high-status-falsehood-2 started using that phrase too, both would start smelling like the other and seem crazier for it. (This is one of the considerations that make me not want to try getting around these restrictions with pseudonyms.) On the other hand, of course, there are a number of concepts to fall back on that basically can’t be corrupted because they’re used all the time by e.g. probability theorists obviously lacking any agenda.
When I said that, I was thinking of the “do women like nice guys or jerks” question specifically. I wouldn’t say politically-charged topics hardly affect people’s lives as a blanket statement, though I think it’s true in a great many cases. But your reading was the more natural one and I apologize for being unclear.