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.
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.