My experience on Less Wrong has been that many of the top-voted articles initially have seemed sort of mundane and obvious if mildly pleasant to read, but that returning to them and having them reverberate in my mind has been very helpful to me in framing the issues that come up in my day to day life. Over and over again I’ve had the experience of being subliminally aware of a given phenomenon discussed on Less Wrong but that reading a well-written explanation is very helpful to me in drawing the key issues at hand into focus.
Eliezer’s articles listed under Shut Up and Multiply helped me become more comfortable with expected utility theory. (Disclaimer: I do not fully agree with all points that he makes therein.)
I’m a very unusual person and have had little opportunity to meet people who I have a lot in common with in the past. On Less Wrong I’ve found some people who think in terms similar to the ones that I do and interacting with them has given me the opportunity to trade insights with them, about self-improvement, about the world at large and about interacting with more mainstream people.
I think that people’s willingness to engage with those who disagree with them is noticeably higher (on average) on Less Wrong than it is on most online forums. A major benefit that I’ve reaped from this is that I’ve learned more about communication with those who have different worldviews here than I would have had the chance to elsewhere. I describe a special case of this in the conclusion to my Reflections on a Personal Public Relations Failure: A Lesson in Communication posting.
Great post!
My experience on Less Wrong has been that many of the top-voted articles initially have seemed sort of mundane and obvious if mildly pleasant to read, but that returning to them and having them reverberate in my mind has been very helpful to me in framing the issues that come up in my day to day life. Over and over again I’ve had the experience of being subliminally aware of a given phenomenon discussed on Less Wrong but that reading a well-written explanation is very helpful to me in drawing the key issues at hand into focus.
Eliezer’s articles listed under Shut Up and Multiply helped me become more comfortable with expected utility theory. (Disclaimer: I do not fully agree with all points that he makes therein.)
Yvain’s The Trouble With Good and Missing the Trees for the Forest have been helpful to me in dispelling halo effects.
I’m continually amazed by how relevant I find Yvain’s Generalizing From One Example and Typical Mind and Politics to my own life and to understanding the thinking of others.
I’m a very unusual person and have had little opportunity to meet people who I have a lot in common with in the past. On Less Wrong I’ve found some people who think in terms similar to the ones that I do and interacting with them has given me the opportunity to trade insights with them, about self-improvement, about the world at large and about interacting with more mainstream people.
I think that people’s willingness to engage with those who disagree with them is noticeably higher (on average) on Less Wrong than it is on most online forums. A major benefit that I’ve reaped from this is that I’ve learned more about communication with those who have different worldviews here than I would have had the chance to elsewhere. I describe a special case of this in the conclusion to my Reflections on a Personal Public Relations Failure: A Lesson in Communication posting.