I use the anti-kibitzer. (This anonymises LessWrong, with the hope of reducing bias in judging posts. I think there’s an option for it in Preferences.) It’s great.
Edit: The anti-kibitzer feature is quite interesting as I just noticed it’s an extremely clear example of a situation in which there’s a tradeoff between instrumental and epistemic rationality, and when purposefully depriving yourself of relevant information yields the preferred outcome.
About 90% of the times for comments and about 60% of the times for posts, I think. (And I’m more likely to notice it when it’s a regular than when it’s a newbie.)
I only notice if the commenter happens to be someone I know in real life or whose posts I have taken particular note of. Every other LW username could be replaced by “Anonymous Internet Person Number 3,” and I would barely notice.
When I’m reading a comment written by a name that I’ve seen enough to associate a personality with, I’m almost always aware of whose comment it is. But, when it’s not a name I know well, I’m not consciously aware of having looked at the name and made that determination.
So I think I must always read the name, and if my brain doesn’t recognize it, it automatically filters it out.
On LW, I hardly ever notice the username. (I tend to notice more often on sites where people have avatars, and sites where I know most of the people whose comments I see.) I think I might be skimming the names, because I remember noticing usernames of people who I already knew about, but can’t remember actually reading and comprehending usernames I don’t recognize, at least not very often.
When you read a comment how often are you consciously aware of who wrote it? How often do you read the username before you read the comment?
I am almost always aware if the author is someone with a distinct name that posts a fair amount. Otherwise it doesn’t really register.
(its almost impossible for me not to read the username before the comment unless I put real effort into it)
I use the anti-kibitzer. (This anonymises LessWrong, with the hope of reducing bias in judging posts. I think there’s an option for it in Preferences.) It’s great.
Ok, who am I? (lol!)
Edit: The anti-kibitzer feature is quite interesting as I just noticed it’s an extremely clear example of a situation in which there’s a tradeoff between instrumental and epistemic rationality, and when purposefully depriving yourself of relevant information yields the preferred outcome.
Preferred for who? I think being able to judge people is useful
Those who enable anti-kibitzer, which has the sole functionality of hiding information.
Yea, and it’d give you trouble knowing their names (if you use anti-kibitzer), that would detract from you being able to judge.
About 90% of the times for comments and about 60% of the times for posts, I think. (And I’m more likely to notice it when it’s a regular than when it’s a newbie.)
I only notice if the commenter happens to be someone I know in real life or whose posts I have taken particular note of. Every other LW username could be replaced by “Anonymous Internet Person Number 3,” and I would barely notice.
I normally don’t register the name at all, but if it’s a high-status person on LW (gwern, eliezer, lukeprog), it might grab my attention.
When I’m reading a comment written by a name that I’ve seen enough to associate a personality with, I’m almost always aware of whose comment it is. But, when it’s not a name I know well, I’m not consciously aware of having looked at the name and made that determination.
So I think I must always read the name, and if my brain doesn’t recognize it, it automatically filters it out.
I check when a comment a surprises me, in either direction.
On LW, I hardly ever notice the username. (I tend to notice more often on sites where people have avatars, and sites where I know most of the people whose comments I see.) I think I might be skimming the names, because I remember noticing usernames of people who I already knew about, but can’t remember actually reading and comprehending usernames I don’t recognize, at least not very often.