To whoever is upvoting this, it seems like you must be taking one of the following positions:
It is safe to post any view on LessWrong. Doing so will not get you in trouble, or cause blowups.
It is unsafe to post certain views on LessWrong, but if you hold such a view, you are morally obliged to argue for it and suffer the punishment (possibly at the hands of me or my allies).
It is unsafe to post certain views on LessWrong, and you are allowed not to argue for them, but you are not allowed to suggest that this unsafety has any sort of distorting effect on the resulting discussion.
I upvoted Prismatic, and I’m taking this position: 4. It may or may not be safe to post certain views on Less Wrong, but whatever they are, I precommit that I will not be part of a blowup over them. If your views are justified, I will update on them, and if they are not, I will calmly state my objections, but I will not punish you for dissent. If other people punish you unfairly for dissent, I will punish them. I would rather you post your dissenting views than hide them, and I will support you for doing so.
If enough of Less Wrong takes this position, eventually position 1. will be correct. I hope to bring about this state of affairs.
That looks like option 2 minus the parenthetical. “These punishments are most regrettable, and maybe one day in a utopian future they will have stopped existing, but in the mean time stick your neck out and be punished or I’m going to complain at you.”
Isn’t is possible that Prismattic’s comment could be receiving so many upvotes because other people also find comments of the sort described irritating and are embracing the opportunity to signal that irritation? Like Prismattic, I don’t generally downvote comments on this basis alone. But I’m definitely tired of seeing the types of comments described, especially in those instances when, at least to my eyes, the commenters seem to be affecting a certain world-weary sorrow and wisdom while hinting at the profound truths that could be freely discussed but for -alas!- the terrible tyranny of modern social norms. But because the commenters are hiding the exact substance of their own views, there’s no basis on which to judge whether these views are, as Prismattic suggests, actually more correct than the mainstream view, or perhaps equally or even more wrong in some different direction.
If what’s suggested is “You guys would punish me for stating my arguments, therefore I win the debate”, I agree that’s unreasonable. If what’s suggested is “You guys would punish me for stating my arguments, therefore no real debate has taken place”, I think that’s far more reasonable.
To do so consistently and stay safe, you’d need to take the unusual or otherwise identifiable parts of your set of concepts, favorite examples, verbal quirks, patterns of reasoning, and so on, and split everything into two: one part for use under your true identity, and one part for pseudonymous use. Even then, each of your novel ideas could taint each of your other novel ideas. There would also still be the harm to LessWrong’s reputation as a whole. And what would it accomplish? It’s notoriously hard to get people to change their minds on these topics, even here, and if you do there’s no clear causal path from that to better long-term future outcomes. I’d rather just collectively give up.
It’s notoriously hard to get people to change their minds on these topics, even here, and if you do there’s no clear causal path from that to better long-term future outcomes.
I do wonder why Luke puts so much effort into writing about romantic relationships, given all the other things on his to do list. Perhaps he wants to demonstrate that rationality has big concrete, immediate benefits, as a way to help expand our community?
I’d rather just collectively give up.
I think that’s unlikely, unless someone who wants to see it happen makes a big push for it (e.g., get Eliezer to declare it a rule, or write a really convincing top-level post arguing for it and build the necessary consensus). My suggestion was made under the assumption of the current status quo.
Trying to put words to my own intuitions on the matter, I would stipulate a modified 3:
It may be unsafe (in terms of image/status/etc—I would certainly expect and hope not physically) to express certain views, particularly those sufficiently far from both societal mainstream and LW mainstream, and particularly those that touch too heavily on mind-killing topics.
It is reasonably within norms to acknowledge this, particularly with an eye to reducing its effect.
What is decidedly a violation of norms, I think, is to do so in a self-serving manner.
“Norms forbid honest discussion of my pet issue X, therefor X” is obviously flawed.
“Norms forbid discussion of my pet issue X, and I have strong evidence for X but can’t share it because of those norms, so just trust me that X” amounts to the same thing, in terms of what kinds of discussions are possible. It is also, to some degree, inconsistent—it is unlikely that we forbid evidence for a proposition while allowing discussion otherwise implying/assuming it.
Perhaps my view is one of 1-3, but I’m finding it difficult to categorize it:
It is ill-advised to discuss certain topics on LessWrong; if they are discussed anyway, the following choices are in the decreasing order of preference: a) not join the discussion; b) state your view clearly and be prepared to defend it; c) hint at your view but refuse to explain it or cite evidence for it, claiming that’ll violate a social norm.
b) is much better than c), but a) is much better than b).
It’s the same attitude that I think already exists on LW for politics (strongly influenced by the mind-killer post).
To whoever is upvoting this, it seems like you must be taking one of the following positions:
It is safe to post any view on LessWrong. Doing so will not get you in trouble, or cause blowups.
It is unsafe to post certain views on LessWrong, but if you hold such a view, you are morally obliged to argue for it and suffer the punishment (possibly at the hands of me or my allies).
It is unsafe to post certain views on LessWrong, and you are allowed not to argue for them, but you are not allowed to suggest that this unsafety has any sort of distorting effect on the resulting discussion.
Could you guys clarify?
I upvoted Prismatic, and I’m taking this position: 4. It may or may not be safe to post certain views on Less Wrong, but whatever they are, I precommit that I will not be part of a blowup over them. If your views are justified, I will update on them, and if they are not, I will calmly state my objections, but I will not punish you for dissent. If other people punish you unfairly for dissent, I will punish them. I would rather you post your dissenting views than hide them, and I will support you for doing so.
If enough of Less Wrong takes this position, eventually position 1. will be correct. I hope to bring about this state of affairs.
I always appreciate when someone else comes along and explains my position better than I did, so thanks.
That looks like option 2 minus the parenthetical. “These punishments are most regrettable, and maybe one day in a utopian future they will have stopped existing, but in the mean time stick your neck out and be punished or I’m going to complain at you.”
Isn’t is possible that Prismattic’s comment could be receiving so many upvotes because other people also find comments of the sort described irritating and are embracing the opportunity to signal that irritation? Like Prismattic, I don’t generally downvote comments on this basis alone. But I’m definitely tired of seeing the types of comments described, especially in those instances when, at least to my eyes, the commenters seem to be affecting a certain world-weary sorrow and wisdom while hinting at the profound truths that could be freely discussed but for -alas!- the terrible tyranny of modern social norms. But because the commenters are hiding the exact substance of their own views, there’s no basis on which to judge whether these views are, as Prismattic suggests, actually more correct than the mainstream view, or perhaps equally or even more wrong in some different direction.
If what’s suggested is “You guys would punish me for stating my arguments, therefore I win the debate”, I agree that’s unreasonable. If what’s suggested is “You guys would punish me for stating my arguments, therefore no real debate has taken place”, I think that’s far more reasonable.
Why not publish the “unsafe” arguments under a pseudonym (or an alternate pseudonym if your main identity is already a pseudonym)?
To do so consistently and stay safe, you’d need to take the unusual or otherwise identifiable parts of your set of concepts, favorite examples, verbal quirks, patterns of reasoning, and so on, and split everything into two: one part for use under your true identity, and one part for pseudonymous use. Even then, each of your novel ideas could taint each of your other novel ideas. There would also still be the harm to LessWrong’s reputation as a whole. And what would it accomplish? It’s notoriously hard to get people to change their minds on these topics, even here, and if you do there’s no clear causal path from that to better long-term future outcomes. I’d rather just collectively give up.
I do wonder why Luke puts so much effort into writing about romantic relationships, given all the other things on his to do list. Perhaps he wants to demonstrate that rationality has big concrete, immediate benefits, as a way to help expand our community?
I think that’s unlikely, unless someone who wants to see it happen makes a big push for it (e.g., get Eliezer to declare it a rule, or write a really convincing top-level post arguing for it and build the necessary consensus). My suggestion was made under the assumption of the current status quo.
I second this question.
Trying to put words to my own intuitions on the matter, I would stipulate a modified 3:
It may be unsafe (in terms of image/status/etc—I would certainly expect and hope not physically) to express certain views, particularly those sufficiently far from both societal mainstream and LW mainstream, and particularly those that touch too heavily on mind-killing topics.
It is reasonably within norms to acknowledge this, particularly with an eye to reducing its effect.
What is decidedly a violation of norms, I think, is to do so in a self-serving manner.
“Norms forbid honest discussion of my pet issue X, therefor X” is obviously flawed.
“Norms forbid discussion of my pet issue X, and I have strong evidence for X but can’t share it because of those norms, so just trust me that X” amounts to the same thing, in terms of what kinds of discussions are possible. It is also, to some degree, inconsistent—it is unlikely that we forbid evidence for a proposition while allowing discussion otherwise implying/assuming it.
I am also interested in a clarification.
Perhaps my view is one of 1-3, but I’m finding it difficult to categorize it:
It is ill-advised to discuss certain topics on LessWrong; if they are discussed anyway, the following choices are in the decreasing order of preference: a) not join the discussion; b) state your view clearly and be prepared to defend it; c) hint at your view but refuse to explain it or cite evidence for it, claiming that’ll violate a social norm.
b) is much better than c), but a) is much better than b).
It’s the same attitude that I think already exists on LW for politics (strongly influenced by the mind-killer post).