I respect your emphasis on trying to avoid hyperbole, but there’s got to be some room for speaking loosely (even in the hyper-vigilant Less Wrong community). And notice I prefaced that sentence with “I’d say that” which I think is a pretty good indication that it was more of an opinion than a bold assertion of fact. I haven’t made up my mind about anything, but I can have strong opinions about an issue without getting a degree in the relevant field.
If you disagreed with me, why not skip the reprimand, and instead shame me (and enlighten me) by offering a strong counter-argument to my perspective?
The reprimands and downvotes mean that people don’t think what you’ve written is useful. It doesn’t matter whether you’re giving your opinion or asserting a fact. Either way, you’re expected to support your claims, because Less Wrong is all about that. *
* Except somewhat in the Discussion subsite, where sociability and the fun of conversation itself are given more weight.
I respect your emphasis on trying to avoid hyperbole, but there’s got to be some room for speaking loosely (even in the hyper-vigilant Less Wrong community). And notice I prefaced that sentence with “I’d say that” which I think is a pretty good indication that it was more of an opinion than a bold assertion of fact. I haven’t made up my mind about anything, but I can have strong opinions about an issue without getting a degree in the relevant field.
If you disagreed with me, why not skip the reprimand, and instead shame me (and enlighten me) by offering a strong counter-argument to my perspective?
The reprimands and downvotes mean that people don’t think what you’ve written is useful. It doesn’t matter whether you’re giving your opinion or asserting a fact. Either way, you’re expected to support your claims, because Less Wrong is all about that. *
* Except somewhat in the Discussion subsite, where sociability and the fun of conversation itself are given more weight.