It’s supposed to allow for discussion of things other than rationality (like meetups, existential risks, transhumanism, self-experimentation, etc.), but still stuff with intellectual content, IE not lolcats or football or whatever.
I’d like one completely off-topic area where LWers can talk about lolcats and football if they want to. As if we were a community of real people interested in getting to know each other.
Hacker News has changed, but there used to be a standard that anything sufficiently well written or intellectual was ok. I think that same standard applies here.
I also think random news stories are fine, even if they have misconceptions, for the purpose of having a discussion that leads to a better understanding of the subject matter.
What tom said, but you’re right that could be taken to be either too broad (lolcats) or too narrow (no rationality). So forget “off-topic”. I’d still like something better than “discussion” though.
I didn’t think it was supposed to be any more off-topic than the open threads.
It’s supposed to allow for discussion of things other than rationality (like meetups, existential risks, transhumanism, self-experimentation, etc.), but still stuff with intellectual content, IE not lolcats or football or whatever.
I’d like one completely off-topic area where LWers can talk about lolcats and football if they want to. As if we were a community of real people interested in getting to know each other.
Hacker News has changed, but there used to be a standard that anything sufficiently well written or intellectual was ok. I think that same standard applies here.
ESPN.com is not ok but David Foster Wallace on Roger Federer as Religious Experience is encouraged.
I also think random news stories are fine, even if they have misconceptions, for the purpose of having a discussion that leads to a better understanding of the subject matter.
Incidentally, I’m thinking about writing a post on rationality in sports which would include a link or two to ESPN.com. But yes, this is about right.
What tom said, but you’re right that could be taken to be either too broad (lolcats) or too narrow (no rationality). So forget “off-topic”. I’d still like something better than “discussion” though.