I have no particular suggestions for you, but it’s clear that it’s at least possible to convey valuable information to LW without giving off a status-grabbing impression, because plenty of people have done it (eg lukeprog, Yvain, etc)
Certainly, they’ve done a very good job, and I commend them for it. But people who are so talented as them at communicating are rare.
So, random anecdote time: I remember when I was younger my sister would often say things that would upset my parents; usually this ended up causing some kind of confrontation/fight. And whenever she would say these upsetting things, the second the words left her mouth I would cringe, because it was extremely obvious to me that what she had said was very much the wrong thing to say—I could tell it would only make my parents madder. And I was never quite sure (and am still not sure) whether she also recognized that what she was saying would only worsen the situation (but she still couldn’t resist saying it because she was angry or whatever) or whether she was just blind to how her words would make my parents feel. So my question to you would be: can you predict when your LW comments will get a negative reaction? Do you think “yeah, this will probably get negative karma but I’m going to say it anyway”? Or are you surprised when you get downvoted?
(Not to say that it’s irrational to post something you expect to be downvoted, of course, whereas it would be sort of irrational for my sister to say something in a fit of anger that she knew would only make things worse. I’m just trying to get a sense of how you’re modelling LWer’s)
I can predict it now. I was oblivious at the time when I started posting on LW under my pseudonym multifoliaterose in 2010, but I learned to pattern match: e.g. I was not surprised by the pushback on my reference to MLK, or by the heated response to this comment.
The issue isn’t that I don’t know when something that I’ll say will make people angry, it’s that I don’t know how I can communicate it in a way that won’t.
The issue isn’t that I don’t know when something that I’ll say will make people angry, it’s that I don’t know how I can communicate it in a way that won’t.
Have you used the Try Harder? Specifically, I see responses where people say “this sentence is arrogant” and you will respond with “ah, I meant to say X,” which is better worded and does not come across as arrogant.
Now, sometimes they have specific information—”the comparison to Y is what makes it arrogant”—and the improvement uses that information. But if you asked yourself “What is the minimal claim I want to make here?” you might be able to drop the dross just by dropping everything unnecessary.
Certainly, they’ve done a very good job, and I commend them for it. But people who are so talented as them at communicating are rare.
Fair.
So, random anecdote time: I remember when I was younger my sister would often say things that would upset my parents; usually this ended up causing some kind of confrontation/fight. And whenever she would say these upsetting things, the second the words left her mouth I would cringe, because it was extremely obvious to me that what she had said was very much the wrong thing to say—I could tell it would only make my parents madder. And I was never quite sure (and am still not sure) whether she also recognized that what she was saying would only worsen the situation (but she still couldn’t resist saying it because she was angry or whatever) or whether she was just blind to how her words would make my parents feel. So my question to you would be: can you predict when your LW comments will get a negative reaction? Do you think “yeah, this will probably get negative karma but I’m going to say it anyway”? Or are you surprised when you get downvoted?
(Not to say that it’s irrational to post something you expect to be downvoted, of course, whereas it would be sort of irrational for my sister to say something in a fit of anger that she knew would only make things worse. I’m just trying to get a sense of how you’re modelling LWer’s)
I can predict it now. I was oblivious at the time when I started posting on LW under my pseudonym multifoliaterose in 2010, but I learned to pattern match: e.g. I was not surprised by the pushback on my reference to MLK, or by the heated response to this comment.
The issue isn’t that I don’t know when something that I’ll say will make people angry, it’s that I don’t know how I can communicate it in a way that won’t.
Have you used the Try Harder? Specifically, I see responses where people say “this sentence is arrogant” and you will respond with “ah, I meant to say X,” which is better worded and does not come across as arrogant.
Now, sometimes they have specific information—”the comparison to Y is what makes it arrogant”—and the improvement uses that information. But if you asked yourself “What is the minimal claim I want to make here?” you might be able to drop the dross just by dropping everything unnecessary.
Thanks, this is a very good point.