...huh. I’m glad to have been of service, but that’s not really what I was going for. I meant that silent downvoting for the kind of confusion you diagnosed in me is counterproductive generally—“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means” is not a hypothesis that springs naturally to mind. The same downvote paired with a comment saying:
This is a waste of time. You keep claiming that “heroic responsibility” says this or “heroic responsibility” demands that, but you’re fundamentally mistaken about what heroic responsibility is and you can’t seem to understand anything we say to correct you. I’m downvoting the rest of this conversation.
...would have been more like what I wanted to encourage.
I meant that silent downvoting for the kind of confusion you diagnosed in me is counterproductive generally
I fundamentally disagree. It is better for misleading comments to have lower votes than insightful ones. This helps limit the epistemic damage caused to third parties. Replying to every incorrect claim with detailed arguments in not viable and not my responsibility either heroic or conventional—even though my comment history suggests that for a few years I made a valiant effort.
Silent downvoting is often the most time efficient form positive influence available and I endorse it as appropriate, productive and typically wiser than trying to argue all the time.
I didn’t propose that you should engage in detailed arguments with anyone—not even me. I proposed that you should accompany some downvotes with an explanation akin to the three-sentence example I gave.
Another example of a sufficiently-elaborate downvote explanation: “I downvoted your reply because it mischaracterized my position more egregiously than any responsible person should.” One sentence, long enough, no further argument required.
...huh. I’m glad to have been of service, but that’s not really what I was going for. I meant that silent downvoting for the kind of confusion you diagnosed in me is counterproductive generally—“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means” is not a hypothesis that springs naturally to mind. The same downvote paired with a comment saying:
...would have been more like what I wanted to encourage.
I fundamentally disagree. It is better for misleading comments to have lower votes than insightful ones. This helps limit the epistemic damage caused to third parties. Replying to every incorrect claim with detailed arguments in not viable and not my responsibility either heroic or conventional—even though my comment history suggests that for a few years I made a valiant effort.
Silent downvoting is often the most time efficient form positive influence available and I endorse it as appropriate, productive and typically wiser than trying to argue all the time.
I didn’t propose that you should engage in detailed arguments with anyone—not even me. I proposed that you should accompany some downvotes with an explanation akin to the three-sentence example I gave.
Another example of a sufficiently-elaborate downvote explanation: “I downvoted your reply because it mischaracterized my position more egregiously than any responsible person should.” One sentence, long enough, no further argument required.
I retract my previous statement based on new evidence acquired.
I continue to endorse being selective in whom one spends time arguing with.