There is a slight difference between being a top contributor and being famous as I am mentioning it here.
My current karma experiment is deliberately not posting comments I think are worth less than 2 karma unless I have a compelling reason to do so (such as asking for help or information). My goal is to increase the quality of my comments to the point that someone could think, “What has MrHen posted recently?” and the answer is more impressive than a series of one-liners and nitpicky comments.
Ideally, this will increase the weight of my words to the point that when I speak, people will listen. It is a pure, straightforward status grab, but one that doesn’t involve gobbling up karma. The pinnacle of the status tree at LessWrong is to have someone think, “I, the reader, am wrong” instead of, “they, the writer, are wrong.”
I am compiling a mental list for LW status games, rewards, and penalties that is similar to the karma list above. I am not much for status games but the gaming here seems to be harder to avoid than in real life. (“Avoid” is the wrong term but conveys the right intent. Status games are hard to “avoid.”)
My biggest regret with the above karma list is that I have no good way to verify or catalogue my comments and their karma. LW just doesn’t have any tools to make such a thing easy. I worry that the status list will be even further removed from reality—possibly to the point of being unable to predict anything at all.
In any case, I like to think that I am getting better in regards to comment quality and topical knowledge. My karma rating keeps going up, so that’s a good sign.
EDIT: Replaced “I think will be rated lower than 2 karma” with “I think are worth less than 2 karma.”
Not so much ideas as things that I think would be helpful but will be buried in obscurity at the level I am.
That being said, this is helped more by learning the basics through reading the sequences than playing status games. My thoughts on status should be taken with the clarification that I am primarily seeking to learn and am thinking about status because I find it interesting.
If I can take my comments and change my behavior so as to be looking forward and increase my status without hampering my ability to learn… why shouldn’t I? When I look at the various status levels here at LessWrong I notice the highest level I can see, which is the one I mentioned in my previous comment.
These comments are meant to be taken as observations for people who are curious or interested. I am not nearly as concerned with status as these comments may imply. I just know status is there and wonder about it in the same way I wonder about most things.
My biggest regret with the above karma list is that I have no good way to verify or catalogue my comments and their karma. LW just doesn’t have any tools to make such a thing easy.
There is a slight difference between being a top contributor and being famous as I am mentioning it here.
My current karma experiment is deliberately not posting comments I think are worth less than 2 karma unless I have a compelling reason to do so (such as asking for help or information). My goal is to increase the quality of my comments to the point that someone could think, “What has MrHen posted recently?” and the answer is more impressive than a series of one-liners and nitpicky comments.
Ideally, this will increase the weight of my words to the point that when I speak, people will listen. It is a pure, straightforward status grab, but one that doesn’t involve gobbling up karma. The pinnacle of the status tree at LessWrong is to have someone think, “I, the reader, am wrong” instead of, “they, the writer, are wrong.”
I am compiling a mental list for LW status games, rewards, and penalties that is similar to the karma list above. I am not much for status games but the gaming here seems to be harder to avoid than in real life. (“Avoid” is the wrong term but conveys the right intent. Status games are hard to “avoid.”)
My biggest regret with the above karma list is that I have no good way to verify or catalogue my comments and their karma. LW just doesn’t have any tools to make such a thing easy. I worry that the status list will be even further removed from reality—possibly to the point of being unable to predict anything at all.
In any case, I like to think that I am getting better in regards to comment quality and topical knowledge. My karma rating keeps going up, so that’s a good sign.
EDIT: Replaced “I think will be rated lower than 2 karma” with “I think are worth less than 2 karma.”
Why do you want more status?
Do you have ideas that you think are good but won’t be heard unless you’re more respected?
Not so much ideas as things that I think would be helpful but will be buried in obscurity at the level I am.
That being said, this is helped more by learning the basics through reading the sequences than playing status games. My thoughts on status should be taken with the clarification that I am primarily seeking to learn and am thinking about status because I find it interesting.
If I can take my comments and change my behavior so as to be looking forward and increase my status without hampering my ability to learn… why shouldn’t I? When I look at the various status levels here at LessWrong I notice the highest level I can see, which is the one I mentioned in my previous comment.
These comments are meant to be taken as observations for people who are curious or interested. I am not nearly as concerned with status as these comments may imply. I just know status is there and wonder about it in the same way I wonder about most things.
Have you tried Wei Dai’s script?