I think the ‘relevance’ is usually rather easy to discern—it simply means
that a comment attempts to contribute something to the subject under
discussion. I added ‘relevance’ only as criterion for completeness’ sake,
because it could make an otherwise rational, intelligent comment still be out
of place. In practice, irrelevant comments are not a problem on LW.
Offensiveness is orthogonal to relevance, I would think.
But my question stands—is there any comment that is both relevant and
rational, but should yet be considered offensive or inappropriate? The ‘petty,
potentially offensive’ things can be countered with normal rational reasoning,
pointing out e.g. stereotyping, without the much more ambivalent rule of
“don’t be offensive”.
Relevant truths should be spoken, even if someone finds its offensive.
I think the ‘relevance’ is usually rather easy to discern—it simply means that a comment attempts to contribute something to the subject under discussion. I added ‘relevance’ only as criterion for completeness’ sake, because it could make an otherwise rational, intelligent comment still be out of place. In practice, irrelevant comments are not a problem on LW.
Offensiveness is orthogonal to relevance, I would think.
But my question stands—is there any comment that is both relevant and rational, but should yet be considered offensive or inappropriate? The ‘petty, potentially offensive’ things can be countered with normal rational reasoning, pointing out e.g. stereotyping, without the much more ambivalent rule of “don’t be offensive”.
Relevant truths should be spoken, even if someone finds its offensive.