The author asked “Do I have a chance at becoming intelligent?” It appears as though he’s interested in becoming a stronger thinker/rationalist and that he’s worried that he might not be capable. With this as context, the comment
I can’t comment on your intelligence but as a general rationality issue this sets off warning bells.
could be read as “I have doubts as to your ability to be rational” which is both potentially misleading and potentially discouraging. I know that you may not have meant your comment with this connotation—just explaining how it initially came across to me.
A sample rephrasing that would have avoided this issue is:
“It’s possible to improve as a rationalist and I think that your posting here asking for suggestions is a move in the right direction. While I’m glad that the works of Ayn Rand and Eliezer have gotten you interested in rationality, one initial suggestion that I have is to avoid placing too much stock in the appeal of fictional characters in informing your beliefs about the world. Fictional characters exist in fictional worlds. Their authors often construct those worlds and those characters to portray their worldviews most favorably, and an author’s ability to do so has little to do with whether or not his or her worldview is correct.”
Sure.
The author asked “Do I have a chance at becoming intelligent?” It appears as though he’s interested in becoming a stronger thinker/rationalist and that he’s worried that he might not be capable. With this as context, the comment
could be read as “I have doubts as to your ability to be rational” which is both potentially misleading and potentially discouraging. I know that you may not have meant your comment with this connotation—just explaining how it initially came across to me.
A sample rephrasing that would have avoided this issue is:
“It’s possible to improve as a rationalist and I think that your posting here asking for suggestions is a move in the right direction. While I’m glad that the works of Ayn Rand and Eliezer have gotten you interested in rationality, one initial suggestion that I have is to avoid placing too much stock in the appeal of fictional characters in informing your beliefs about the world. Fictional characters exist in fictional worlds. Their authors often construct those worlds and those characters to portray their worldviews most favorably, and an author’s ability to do so has little to do with whether or not his or her worldview is correct.”
Thanks. That makes sense.