The actual intent was to point out that embargoing references past a certain point truly is ridiculous. Referencing a 69 year old movie (EDIT: several hundred year old play) is an attempt at a reductio ad absurdum, made more visceral by technically violating the norm Eliezer is imposing.
Certainly there’s no real need to discuss specific plot points of recent manga or anime on this site. This, in fact, holds for any specific example one cares to name. On the other hand, the cumulative cutting off all our cultural references to fiction does impose a real harm to the discourse.
References to fiction let us compress our communications more effectively by pointing at examples of what we mean. My words alone can’t have nearly the effect a full color motion picture with surround sound can—but I can borrow it, if I’m allowed to reference works that most people are broadly familiar with.
I don’t think that most recent works count—they reach too small a segment of LW, and so are the least useful to reference, and the ones most likely to upset those who are spoiler averse. The question is where the line should be set, and that requires context and judgment, not universal bans.
While I admit that the benefit was not in the same class as the ones discussed in my point above, clearly I thought it had some benefit in making my point.
And yes, it had costs—it needed to, in order to make the point. Of course, ceteris paribus, the better the job at illustrating the reductio-ad-absurdum, the smaller the cost. I tried to choose an example with the smallest cost I reasonably could.
If you have a popular and well-known, older work that has what is truly a spoiler, but that (a) most people already know, and (b) the work is short enough that a huge time-investment isn’t likely to be ruined (why I chose a movie, rather than a book), I’d be willing to change the example to that.
Did you pick that movie for that reason, or because that’s what TV Tropes used? Because I’ve never seen it, but I do know that Macduff was not of woman born—and Macbeth is rather better known.
Edit: Better still is “Romeo and Juliet die at the end”.
Spoilers for a classic movie here:
http://lesswrong.com/lw/1s4/open_thread_february_2010_part_2/1ndd
Since the actual intent of the comment was to spoiler it can probably be deleted without further discussion.
EDIT: the edit is a big improvement. It used to be an actual spoiler.
The actual intent was to point out that embargoing references past a certain point truly is ridiculous. Referencing a 69 year old movie (EDIT: several hundred year old play) is an attempt at a reductio ad absurdum, made more visceral by technically violating the norm Eliezer is imposing.
Certainly there’s no real need to discuss specific plot points of recent manga or anime on this site. This, in fact, holds for any specific example one cares to name. On the other hand, the cumulative cutting off all our cultural references to fiction does impose a real harm to the discourse.
References to fiction let us compress our communications more effectively by pointing at examples of what we mean. My words alone can’t have nearly the effect a full color motion picture with surround sound can—but I can borrow it, if I’m allowed to reference works that most people are broadly familiar with.
I don’t think that most recent works count—they reach too small a segment of LW, and so are the least useful to reference, and the ones most likely to upset those who are spoiler averse. The question is where the line should be set, and that requires context and judgment, not universal bans.
I think there’s a cost/benefit tradeoff, and that comment is all cost, no benefit.
While I admit that the benefit was not in the same class as the ones discussed in my point above, clearly I thought it had some benefit in making my point.
And yes, it had costs—it needed to, in order to make the point. Of course, ceteris paribus, the better the job at illustrating the reductio-ad-absurdum, the smaller the cost. I tried to choose an example with the smallest cost I reasonably could.
If you have a popular and well-known, older work that has what is truly a spoiler, but that (a) most people already know, and (b) the work is short enough that a huge time-investment isn’t likely to be ruined (why I chose a movie, rather than a book), I’d be willing to change the example to that.
I refer you in that case to the canonical example...
Roger Ebert responding to a reader about [edit: the “spoiler” in the title of] The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. (Warning: contains a Sixth Sense spoiler.)
Upvoted for pun.
If there’s a pun I’m afraid it’s unintentional—are you referring to the literal meaning of “canon” in this context?
Indeed.
Did you pick that movie for that reason, or because that’s what TV Tropes used? Because I’ve never seen it, but I do know that Macduff was not of woman born—and Macbeth is rather better known.
Edit: Better still is “Romeo and Juliet die at the end”.
I did not know that TV Tropes used it, but I have seen other people use it for the same sort of point.
I’ll change it.