I have my doubts that blunt criticism on LW is the main reason for the unbalanced gender ratio here.
I also haven’t noticed too many examples of LessWrongers being offended by criticism directed at them. (Occasionally someone will say something like “Hey, why’s everyone downvoting me?” but in my impression those tend to be newbies or people in long-term feuds of little general interest.)
What I see most often is posts like John Maxwell’s, observing that LessWrongers tend to be perceived as too harsh by the general population. Which may be true; this community attracts people who are quite a bit different from the general population. So I think the issue is less “how/whether to be nice on LessWrong” and more “how/whether to modulate criticism for other populations.” I don’t think it makes sense to have just one setting for all people and all contexts.
I have my doubts that blunt criticism on LW is the main reason for the unbalanced gender ratio here.
I also haven’t noticed too many examples of LessWrongers being offended by criticism directed at them. (Occasionally someone will say something like “Hey, why’s everyone downvoting me?” but in my impression those tend to be newbies or people in long-term feuds of little general interest.)
What I see most often is posts like John Maxwell’s, observing that LessWrongers tend to be perceived as too harsh by the general population. Which may be true; this community attracts people who are quite a bit different from the general population. So I think the issue is less “how/whether to be nice on LessWrong” and more “how/whether to modulate criticism for other populations.” I don’t think it makes sense to have just one setting for all people and all contexts.