The problem with politics is that discussion of it tends to devolve into something that’s a toxic mess that serves no useful purpose, doesn’t inform anyone and doesn’t make the site better.
Sure, there are benefits to be had from discussing politics on a rationality site, but I can see the argument against it: previous attempts have devolved into the toxic mess instead of yielding any insight.
This thread doesn’t fit that pattern largely because LW users are aware of the problems with talking about politics and are more likely to stay on the meta-level as a response to that. There is, in fact, not a single argument for/against brexit in this thread, which I think is a shining advertisement for LW comment culture. On the other hand, I think this article is also particularly well-suited for not immediately inspiring object-level argument, at least as long as it’s not posted on /r/news or similar.
Part of the reason is also because this is a UK issue and most LessWrong readers are not from there, so people have a little bit more of a outsider’s or non-tribalist perspective on it (although almost all LW commenters would certainly have voted for Remain).
The problem with politics is that discussion of it tends to devolve into something that’s a toxic mess that serves no useful purpose, doesn’t inform anyone and doesn’t make the site better.
Sure, there are benefits to be had from discussing politics on a rationality site, but I can see the argument against it: previous attempts have devolved into the toxic mess instead of yielding any insight.
This thread seems to not fit that pattern. The only annoying content is related to moderation.
This thread doesn’t fit that pattern largely because LW users are aware of the problems with talking about politics and are more likely to stay on the meta-level as a response to that. There is, in fact, not a single argument for/against brexit in this thread, which I think is a shining advertisement for LW comment culture. On the other hand, I think this article is also particularly well-suited for not immediately inspiring object-level argument, at least as long as it’s not posted on /r/news or similar.
Part of the reason is also because this is a UK issue and most LessWrong readers are not from there, so people have a little bit more of a outsider’s or non-tribalist perspective on it (although almost all LW commenters would certainly have voted for Remain).
Yeah, I mean I think there are successes and failures, and I personally think that LW should try to talk more about “real” issues like politics.