Reminder that “avoiding politics” does not mean taking a neutral position or casting equal shade on both (primary) sides of a current issue. No issue has two equally worthy sides, and the question of how to even measure “worthiness” is, itself, political.
Recommendation 0: Find another site/forum to express your opinions/insights. If it’s not about applied nor theoretical rationality, nor about AI, this probably isn’t the place for it.
An easy test—if you can boil your post down to “I notice I am confused”, it’s probably good here (also “I was confused, and here’s what clarified it for me”). If, instead, it boils down to “I notice other people are confused”, maybe not here. I recommend this whether you’re following up with “people are crazy and the world is mad” or with “let’s raise the sanity waterline by un-confusing these people who aren’t listening to us”.
I probably disagree with some interpretations of that wording, too. I do wish there were less current-event politics on the site (even on personal blogs), and I do think there’s something in the “other people’s rationality” idea about what is mind-killing and annoying about discussing politics. But I don’t think it’s quite the natural divider that would make a good rule. I give it as a pointer and a guideline about when to think twice (and thrice) before posting.
Actually, I think the rule I try to follow is “if I want to complain about other people are confused, check and see if I am also confused in that way, and then write the post about that personal experience.” (This is what I did for Schelling Choice is Rabbit)
Improving your own maps and describing how, I’m totally in favor. That’s awesome. Improving the maps of LessWrong readers, by refining or correcting ideas discussed here, also great. Improving the maps of people who aren’t reading LessWrong? I think that’s an error to undertake as a LessWrong post.
Not sure about your “very old friends” question. I don’t recognize the quote, and don’t know what you’re referring to.
Reminder that “avoiding politics” does not mean taking a neutral position or casting equal shade on both (primary) sides of a current issue. No issue has two equally worthy sides, and the question of how to even measure “worthiness” is, itself, political.
Recommendations:
Set the example in a fictional world. OR
Use an example that is fully outside politics, like math, newtonian physics, cooking, or bad car analogies https://jameskbride.com/2016/02/21/software-craftsmanship-doesnt-equal-faster-and-thats-ok.html
Recommendation 0: Find another site/forum to express your opinions/insights. If it’s not about applied nor theoretical rationality, nor about AI, this probably isn’t the place for it.
An easy test—if you can boil your post down to “I notice I am confused”, it’s probably good here (also “I was confused, and here’s what clarified it for me”). If, instead, it boils down to “I notice other people are confused”, maybe not here. I recommend this whether you’re following up with “people are crazy and the world is mad” or with “let’s raise the sanity waterline by un-confusing these people who aren’t listening to us”.
I… think I disagree with this as worded, but not sure.
I probably disagree with some interpretations of that wording, too. I do wish there were less current-event politics on the site (even on personal blogs), and I do think there’s something in the “other people’s rationality” idea about what is mind-killing and annoying about discussing politics. But I don’t think it’s quite the natural divider that would make a good rule. I give it as a pointer and a guideline about when to think twice (and thrice) before posting.
Yeah that seems more reasonable.
Actually, I think the rule I try to follow is “if I want to complain about other people are confused, check and see if I am also confused in that way, and then write the post about that personal experience.” (This is what I did for Schelling Choice is Rabbit)
“And what about very old friends?”
I think this is also a good place for making better maps, or is that what you meant by “applied rationality”?
Improving your own maps and describing how, I’m totally in favor. That’s awesome. Improving the maps of LessWrong readers, by refining or correcting ideas discussed here, also great. Improving the maps of people who aren’t reading LessWrong? I think that’s an error to undertake as a LessWrong post.
Not sure about your “very old friends” question. I don’t recognize the quote, and don’t know what you’re referring to.