Will an abandonment of a disastrous policy be more or less disastrous? Well, when I put it that way, it suddenly seems obvious.
“The world around us redounds with opportunities, explodes with opportunities, which nearly all folk ignore because it would require them to violate a habit of thought; there are a thousand Hufflepuff bones waiting to be sharpened into spears … I cannot quite comprehend what goes through people’s minds when they repeat the same failed strategy over and over, but apparently it is an astonishingly rare realization that you can try something else.”
Less disastrous as in “people spending less time criticizing Eliezer’s moderating skills”? Probably yes.
Less disastrous as in “people spending less time on LW discussing the ‘basilisk’”? Probably no. I would expect at least dozen articles about this topic within the first year if the ban would be completely removed.
Less disastrous as in “people less likely to create more ‘basilisk’-style comments”? Probably no. Seems that the policy prevented this successfully.
More importantly, will endless meta-discussions like this make another site more likely or less likely to link it?
Will an abandonment of a disastrous policy be more or less disastrous? Well, when I put it that way, it suddenly seems obvious.
Less disastrous as in “people spending less time criticizing Eliezer’s moderating skills”? Probably yes.
Less disastrous as in “people spending less time on LW discussing the ‘basilisk’”? Probably no. I would expect at least dozen articles about this topic within the first year if the ban would be completely removed.
Less disastrous as in “people less likely to create more ‘basilisk’-style comments”? Probably no. Seems that the policy prevented this successfully.