Your statement “not so long ago, African-Americans were treated unfairly” can’t sensibly be interpreted multiple ways. What you meant to say might have multiple interpretations, but what you actually said can only be interpreted one way, unless one is to distort the words past all reason.
“more specifically, it used to be commonly accepted that black people weren’t as intelligent as white people.”
I’m unfortunately unable to find any surveys which show to what extent this is still believed by people today, but my impression is that this is still a far more commonly-held belief than you think.
“And if you downvote my comment, please explain why.”
Well, in this case, I’m downvoting because you’re whining, because you made an assumption about who downvoted you based on little evidence, and because you’ve written a post that doesn’t say what you now claim you intended it to say and are now blaming the readers for your own mistake.
How so? I thought my comments were sufficiently polite and formal.
because you made an assumption about who downvoted you based on little evidence
By “you” I didn’t mean AndrewHickey, I just meant anyone reading the comment.
and because you’ve written a post that doesn’t say what you now claim you intended it to say and are now blaming the readers for your own mistake.
I never blamed the readers. I admit that I worded it poorly. I didn’t effectively communicate my meaning, so I posted comments to clarify. I’ll try to rewrite my original post to more effectively express my intent.
Edit: I don’t see how to edit my post—I do not see any “edit” button like the one on my comments. So I won’t be editing it unless I figure out how.
I don’t see how to edit my post—I do not see any “edit” button like the one on my comments. So I won’t be editing it unless I figure out how.
At the bottom of your post you should see an icon that looks like a piece of paper with a pencil on it. Click that to edit your post.
EDIT: Oops. Just realized that you already know how to edit comments, so you probably know about the icon. The fact that it isn’t appearing on your post might be a glitch then.
I guess you’re right, I did blame the readers. Sorry about that. I don’t think it’s your fault, really. It’s primarily my fault for writing a sentence that did not effectively express my intention.
Edit: I was just thinking about why I said I wasn’t blaming anyone, and I think the reason is that I didn’t feel like I was blaming anyone, even though I really was. I thought (only semi-consciously) that since I know what I meant, you should also know what I meant. Of course, the only way for that to work is if I express myself clearly, which I obviously didn’t.
I don’t know. If I thought the sentence would lead to confusion, I would have written it differently. It’s hard to judge how much other people will understand my own writing because I understand it perfectly, and I don’t know how much common background I share with most others.
Your statement “not so long ago, African-Americans were treated unfairly” can’t sensibly be interpreted multiple ways. What you meant to say might have multiple interpretations, but what you actually said can only be interpreted one way, unless one is to distort the words past all reason.
“more specifically, it used to be commonly accepted that black people weren’t as intelligent as white people.” I’m unfortunately unable to find any surveys which show to what extent this is still believed by people today, but my impression is that this is still a far more commonly-held belief than you think.
“And if you downvote my comment, please explain why.” Well, in this case, I’m downvoting because you’re whining, because you made an assumption about who downvoted you based on little evidence, and because you’ve written a post that doesn’t say what you now claim you intended it to say and are now blaming the readers for your own mistake.
How so? I thought my comments were sufficiently polite and formal.
By “you” I didn’t mean AndrewHickey, I just meant anyone reading the comment.
I never blamed the readers. I admit that I worded it poorly. I didn’t effectively communicate my meaning, so I posted comments to clarify. I’ll try to rewrite my original post to more effectively express my intent.
Edit: I don’t see how to edit my post—I do not see any “edit” button like the one on my comments. So I won’t be editing it unless I figure out how.
At the bottom of your post you should see an icon that looks like a piece of paper with a pencil on it. Click that to edit your post.
EDIT: Oops. Just realized that you already know how to edit comments, so you probably know about the icon. The fact that it isn’t appearing on your post might be a glitch then.
I looked for that button earlier and didn’t see it, but I see it now. So either I missed it, or it disappeared for some reason.
But it looks like I still can’t edit it because I no longer have permission to post in Main. I guess I’ll move it to Discussion....
You definitely can edit your posts. Hover over buttons one will say edit. Make sure you are logged in to the site when doing it.
“Perhaps you should not be so quick to assume my ignorance.”
“I never blamed the readers.”
I guess you’re right, I did blame the readers. Sorry about that. I don’t think it’s your fault, really. It’s primarily my fault for writing a sentence that did not effectively express my intention.
Edit: I was just thinking about why I said I wasn’t blaming anyone, and I think the reason is that I didn’t feel like I was blaming anyone, even though I really was. I thought (only semi-consciously) that since I know what I meant, you should also know what I meant. Of course, the only way for that to work is if I express myself clearly, which I obviously didn’t.
For every one hickey, what do you suppose is the number of readers who have no problem understanding what you wrote?
Lesswrong is far from monolithic, and it is a mistake to think AndrewHIckey speaks for the whole of it.
I don’t know. If I thought the sentence would lead to confusion, I would have written it differently. It’s hard to judge how much other people will understand my own writing because I understand it perfectly, and I don’t know how much common background I share with most others.
Did you understand it?