I also note how while karma is supposed to mean “constructive”, it usually actually means “agree”. People don’t just downvote trolls, they seem to downvote anyone they disagree with.
I can tell, because usually I get upvoted… but all my posts criticizing polyamory have negative scores. I didn’t turn into a troll overnight.
To generalize that, I’ve found in the past that posts on subjects I feel very strongly about, or that I might reasonably expect interested observers to feel very strongly about, tend to be noticeably less well received unless I put a lot of effort into cooling my phrasing and shoring up any weak points in the reasoning. This might have a little to do with inferential gaps, but it’s probably driven mostly by halo effects and their negative-affect cognates: arguments that I’ve accepted as part of my worldview are likely to look a lot less good to people that haven’t internalized them. Same goes for rhetoric, but moreso.
Some people seem to be able to avoid this, but I don’t seem to have the entertaining rant patch installed. If you find your posts on these subjects being downvoted a lot, chances are you don’t either.
That makes some sense to me. Polyamory is exceptional because a number of prominent folks on Less Wrong identify as themselves poly, so they’re bound to take it personally. And maybe I take it too personally myself, having been burned by a few attempts at poly relationships that went badly.
If so, then we would all be expected to be making worse arguments than usual, and you can get caught in a death spiral of both sides taking it too personally.
I also note how while karma is supposed to mean “constructive”, it usually actually means “agree”. People don’t just downvote trolls, they seem to downvote anyone they disagree with.
I can tell, because usually I get upvoted… but all my posts criticizing polyamory have negative scores. I didn’t turn into a troll overnight.
It is possible that your thinking and communicating on that subject really has sucked compared to other things that you have said.
To generalize that, I’ve found in the past that posts on subjects I feel very strongly about, or that I might reasonably expect interested observers to feel very strongly about, tend to be noticeably less well received unless I put a lot of effort into cooling my phrasing and shoring up any weak points in the reasoning. This might have a little to do with inferential gaps, but it’s probably driven mostly by halo effects and their negative-affect cognates: arguments that I’ve accepted as part of my worldview are likely to look a lot less good to people that haven’t internalized them. Same goes for rhetoric, but moreso.
Some people seem to be able to avoid this, but I don’t seem to have the entertaining rant patch installed. If you find your posts on these subjects being downvoted a lot, chances are you don’t either.
That makes some sense to me. Polyamory is exceptional because a number of prominent folks on Less Wrong identify as themselves poly, so they’re bound to take it personally. And maybe I take it too personally myself, having been burned by a few attempts at poly relationships that went badly.
If so, then we would all be expected to be making worse arguments than usual, and you can get caught in a death spiral of both sides taking it too personally.
Personally I have never upvoted or downvoted any post on lesswrong, ever. Politics is only mindkilling to those who have chips in the game.