Thank you for the kind words. Your characterization of my attitude is also accurate, which I appreciate.
The one quibble I would make—and it really is a quibble—is with this bit:
it’s not that you hate me or what I write, it’s just that you don’t care if someone thinks you hate them and their writing
Well, I don’t want anyone[1] to think that I hate them. Certainly, if someone comes away from my comments with the impression that I have a personal dislike of them, that is regrettable. Where possible, I try to correct any such mistaken impression. I certainly don’t deliberately try to make anyone think I hate them; that would be silly and without purpose.
It’s just that this is not regrettable enough to take any costly[2] pre-emptive steps to avoid (a necessity for such steps being a practical disincentive to contribution), or—critically—to sacrifice honesty, clarity, etc., to the goal of avoiding such an impression.
That aside, I find little to disagree in what you say.
[1] With some exceptions, I suppose? At least, in principle. In any case, I don’t, to my knowledge, hate anyone who posts on Less Wrong.
[2] Non-costly steps being such things as “avoid gratuitous insults”, “don’t use ad personam arguments”, “avoid foul language”, etc.
Thank you for the kind words. Your characterization of my attitude is also accurate, which I appreciate.
The one quibble I would make—and it really is a quibble—is with this bit:
Well, I don’t want anyone[1] to think that I hate them. Certainly, if someone comes away from my comments with the impression that I have a personal dislike of them, that is regrettable. Where possible, I try to correct any such mistaken impression. I certainly don’t deliberately try to make anyone think I hate them; that would be silly and without purpose.
It’s just that this is not regrettable enough to take any costly[2] pre-emptive steps to avoid (a necessity for such steps being a practical disincentive to contribution), or—critically—to sacrifice honesty, clarity, etc., to the goal of avoiding such an impression.
That aside, I find little to disagree in what you say.
[1] With some exceptions, I suppose? At least, in principle. In any case, I don’t, to my knowledge, hate anyone who posts on Less Wrong.
[2] Non-costly steps being such things as “avoid gratuitous insults”, “don’t use ad personam arguments”, “avoid foul language”, etc.