As I see it the question isn’t so much about elites and non-elites, but about problem solvers and storytellers. Storytellers give you a reason to want to cross the ocean, problem solvers make sure that you have boat that doesn’t sink. Much of the internet is populated by storytellers—someone might do a lot of problem solving in their day job, and then write stories about it in a blog.
MathOverflow, the top site cited as what Less Wrong should be aiming for, is very much about problem solving—you post a problem and can hope to get an answer from some really bright people within a couple of hours. But Jonah Sinick asked why more winners of mathematical prizes don’t post their thoughts for all to see—well maybe that isn’t the way to win prizes.
It’s hard to see where Less Wrong fits into this division. One would think that rationality would be about getting away from the stories that we have been told and getting down to problem solving—new ways to deal with akrasia, poverty or death. Less Wrong looks like it ought to be the public (i.e. storytelling) face of an enterprise which goes in for such problem solving—that is what internet forums often are. But when you dig deeper, you just tend to find more storytelling. I would guess that Elizier has excellent problem solving skills, but the Elizier we see is very much a storyteller.
In the end it’s hard to see what Less Wrong is about. Informal discussion is all very well, but to get more interest from elsewhere it needs more of a sense of focus—what sort of problems should we be looking at and what is being done to tackle them.
As I see it the question isn’t so much about elites and non-elites, but about problem solvers and storytellers. Storytellers give you a reason to want to cross the ocean, problem solvers make sure that you have boat that doesn’t sink. Much of the internet is populated by storytellers—someone might do a lot of problem solving in their day job, and then write stories about it in a blog.
MathOverflow, the top site cited as what Less Wrong should be aiming for, is very much about problem solving—you post a problem and can hope to get an answer from some really bright people within a couple of hours. But Jonah Sinick asked why more winners of mathematical prizes don’t post their thoughts for all to see—well maybe that isn’t the way to win prizes.
It’s hard to see where Less Wrong fits into this division. One would think that rationality would be about getting away from the stories that we have been told and getting down to problem solving—new ways to deal with akrasia, poverty or death. Less Wrong looks like it ought to be the public (i.e. storytelling) face of an enterprise which goes in for such problem solving—that is what internet forums often are. But when you dig deeper, you just tend to find more storytelling. I would guess that Elizier has excellent problem solving skills, but the Elizier we see is very much a storyteller.
In the end it’s hard to see what Less Wrong is about. Informal discussion is all very well, but to get more interest from elsewhere it needs more of a sense of focus—what sort of problems should we be looking at and what is being done to tackle them.