Wouldn’t you expect that if the cause actually made sense though? (and not only if this is a cult)
Given how much LWers seem to care about effective charity, I’d expect more scrutiny, and a stronger insistence on measurable outcomes. I guess you’re right though; the money isn’t inherently a problem.
Less than 0.01% of the users have played an ai-box game (to my knowledge) and even less have played it for money.
It seems like a defining characteristic; it’s one place where the site clearly differs from more “mainstream” AI research (though this may be a distorted perception since it was how I first heard of LW)
if you mean that evidence-based reasoning helped them find an intervention designed to increase sleep quality you are grasping for straws.
Shrug. It looks dodgy to me. It pattern-matches with e.g. the unverifiable stories people tell of their personal experience of Jesus.
We are not supposed to write out the actual basilisk (there is only one) on lesswrong.com. There is no problems with talking about it in public
That’s not at all clear. I’ve never seen any explicit rules. I’ve seen articles that carefully avoid saying the name.
There are just respected users and no clear-cut hierarchy—that’s what happens at most places.
Even on internet forums there’s usually an explicit distinction between mod and not, and often layers to it. (The one exception I know is HN, and even there people know who pg is, who’s part of YC and who’s not, and stories are presented differently if they’re coming from YC members). And it’s unusual and suspicious for the high-ups to all be on first name terms with each other. It raises questions over objectivity, oversight, conflict resolution.
It seems like a defining characteristic; it’s one place where the site clearly differs from more “mainstream” AI research (though this may be a distorted perception since it was how I first heard of LW)
It’s not. Your view is definitely distorted.
Shrug. It looks dodgy to me. It pattern-matches with e.g. the unverifiable stories people tell of their personal experience of Jesus.
..
That’s not at all clear. I’ve never seen any explicit rules. I’ve seen articles that carefully avoid saying the name.
Look around then? Eliezer has even made a Reddit thread for things like that where the basilisk is freely discussed.
Even on internet forums there’s usually an explicit distinction between mod and not, and often layers to it. (The one exception I know is HN, and even there people know who pg is, who’s part of YC and who’s not, and stories are presented differently if they’re coming from YC members). And it’s unusual and suspicious for the high-ups to all be on first name terms with each other. It raises questions over objectivity, oversight, conflict resolution.
Yeah, and people here know who Eliezer Yudkowsky is and who is part of MIRI which is LW’s parent organization..
Look around then? Eliezer has even made a Reddit thread for things like that where the basilisk is freely discussed.
I’m not active on reddit. Most forums have a link to the rules right next to the comment box; this one does not. There clearly is a chilling effect going on, because I’ve seen posts that make carefully oblique references to memetic hazards rather than just saying “don’t post the basilisk in the comments please”.
Yeah, and people here know who Eliezer Yudkowsky is and who is part of MIRI which is LW’s parent organization
I have no idea who’s part of MIRI and which posts are or aren’t from MIRI, because we don’t do the equivalent of (YC 09) on stories here. (And HN was explicitly the worst other example I know; they could certainly stand to improve their transparency a lot).
And it’s unusual and suspicious for the high-ups to all be on first name terms with each other.
By “first-name terms with each other”, do you mean something more than the literal meaning of “familiar with someone, such that one can address that person by his or her first name”? Because in my experience, treating other users on a first name basis is the default for all users on many Internet forums, LW included.
I meant “talk about each other as if they’re close personal friends”. (Myself I generally try to avoid using first names for people who aren’t such, but I appreciate that that’s probably a cultural difference).
And it’s unusual and suspicious for the high-ups to all be on first name terms with each other. It raises questions over objectivity, oversight, conflict resolution.
I think this is more due to the number of people who have their real name as their LessWrong username than any sinister cabal.
Given how much LWers seem to care about effective charity, I’d expect more scrutiny, and a stronger insistence on measurable outcomes. I guess you’re right though; the money isn’t inherently a problem.
It seems like a defining characteristic; it’s one place where the site clearly differs from more “mainstream” AI research (though this may be a distorted perception since it was how I first heard of LW)
Shrug. It looks dodgy to me. It pattern-matches with e.g. the unverifiable stories people tell of their personal experience of Jesus.
That’s not at all clear. I’ve never seen any explicit rules. I’ve seen articles that carefully avoid saying the name.
Even on internet forums there’s usually an explicit distinction between mod and not, and often layers to it. (The one exception I know is HN, and even there people know who pg is, who’s part of YC and who’s not, and stories are presented differently if they’re coming from YC members). And it’s unusual and suspicious for the high-ups to all be on first name terms with each other. It raises questions over objectivity, oversight, conflict resolution.
It’s not. Your view is definitely distorted.
..
Look around then? Eliezer has even made a Reddit thread for things like that where the basilisk is freely discussed.
Yeah, and people here know who Eliezer Yudkowsky is and who is part of MIRI which is LW’s parent organization..
I’m not active on reddit. Most forums have a link to the rules right next to the comment box; this one does not. There clearly is a chilling effect going on, because I’ve seen posts that make carefully oblique references to memetic hazards rather than just saying “don’t post the basilisk in the comments please”.
I have no idea who’s part of MIRI and which posts are or aren’t from MIRI, because we don’t do the equivalent of (YC 09) on stories here. (And HN was explicitly the worst other example I know; they could certainly stand to improve their transparency a lot).
By “first-name terms with each other”, do you mean something more than the literal meaning of “familiar with someone, such that one can address that person by his or her first name”? Because in my experience, treating other users on a first name basis is the default for all users on many Internet forums, LW included.
I meant “talk about each other as if they’re close personal friends”. (Myself I generally try to avoid using first names for people who aren’t such, but I appreciate that that’s probably a cultural difference).
I think this is more due to the number of people who have their real name as their LessWrong username than any sinister cabal.