Strongly agreed. It’s been observed elsewhere on LW that sarcasm can hide gaping logical flaws in an argument that straightforward statement would immediately reveal. I have more than once found that I have been forced to be more intellectually rigorous when I’m unable to cover the gaps in my argument with dripping scorn.
Consider P Z Myers’ scorn for transhumanists—I’d love to hear his “being nice” argument against us, and I think he’d have a much harder time sounding convincing.
It’s possible that this is a disagreement on the meaning of “effortful niceness”. As I’ve said, I find that it is often more effort to express a point straightforwardly than to express it meanly, because I’m forced to think through the argument more carefully. I’m guessing that doesn’t fall under the banner of “effortful niceness” for you, even though it involves effort and makes the comment nicer? Could you give an example of counterproductive effortful niceness?
Why are you assuming that being nice must decrease accuracy? Several of the points that Alicorn mentioned increase accuracy.
Strongly agreed. It’s been observed elsewhere on LW that sarcasm can hide gaping logical flaws in an argument that straightforward statement would immediately reveal. I have more than once found that I have been forced to be more intellectually rigorous when I’m unable to cover the gaps in my argument with dripping scorn.
Consider P Z Myers’ scorn for transhumanists—I’d love to hear his “being nice” argument against us, and I think he’d have a much harder time sounding convincing.
I think that either effortful niceness or effortful horribleness decreases accuracy.
It’s possible that this is a disagreement on the meaning of “effortful niceness”. As I’ve said, I find that it is often more effort to express a point straightforwardly than to express it meanly, because I’m forced to think through the argument more carefully. I’m guessing that doesn’t fall under the banner of “effortful niceness” for you, even though it involves effort and makes the comment nicer? Could you give an example of counterproductive effortful niceness?
Yeah, I guess you’re right actually. After all, it is more effort to express a point straightforwardly than to express it meanly.
No, but if it were the case that it decreased accuracy of beliefs, I think it would still be worth it in some cases.