If I comment on Less Wrong, it’s because factors conspire to make it worthwhile for me. That is, I participate because I find it fun or helpful. Often, I also find reading background material fun or helpful. But my response when I’m caught not having reading something—this is thought but not spoken—is that I will be dutiful about reading all the background material when I am being ‘paid by the hour’. I am willing to suffer the down votes; the links that come with them are most efficient for me in the long run and help others who also don’t have a mental map of all that has been discussed here.
I have a “matching effort” policy, here and in life in general, where I exert more and more effort on a task as I find that the effort is rewarded. Expecting people to do a lot of work upfront, even before they have formed a positive opinion about Less Wrong, is unrealistic. Some people like to lurk for a while, but I presume there are others like me that want to immediately engage in the active experience of Less Wrong, or not bother. This is probably just a personality difference, whether people prefer to prepare first or just dive in.
If I comment on Less Wrong, it’s because factors conspire to make it worthwhile for me. That is, I participate because I find it fun or helpful. Often, I also find reading background material fun or helpful. But my response when I’m caught not having reading something—this is thought but not spoken—is that I will be dutiful about reading all the background material when I am being ‘paid by the hour’. I am willing to suffer the down votes; the links that come with them are most efficient for me in the long run and help others who also don’t have a mental map of all that has been discussed here.
I have a “matching effort” policy, here and in life in general, where I exert more and more effort on a task as I find that the effort is rewarded. Expecting people to do a lot of work upfront, even before they have formed a positive opinion about Less Wrong, is unrealistic. Some people like to lurk for a while, but I presume there are others like me that want to immediately engage in the active experience of Less Wrong, or not bother. This is probably just a personality difference, whether people prefer to prepare first or just dive in.