Not a large number; this is mostly gathered from discussions on internet forums. The sites I hang around on are generally science-fiction related in nature. While there are a few people who know of LW and think it has something valuable, many (relatively high-status) members think of it as being overly “self-important” or “full of hot air”; most don’t outright disagree with the overall point (or never pin down their disagreement exactly), but state that the jargon makes LW useless, or that it states obvious things in a pretentious way, or that it’s a close-minded community of “true believers” (the places I hang out are largely atheistic, so this is very much an insult).
In some ways, LW has suffered from HPMoR—anyone who doesn’t like the story for whatever reason isn’t likely to like the site, and I think it’s plausible that some of those people would have liked the site if not for the story—though it’s also more likely that many more people wouldn’t have found LW without HPMoR.
Introducing people to Less Wrong outside the internet, my much more limited experience is that to most people, it’s just an interesting blog. It’s shiny, but not useful. I’ve tried to get a family member to read parts of the Sequences in hopes of getting to a point where we could resolve a long-standing disagreement, but they don’t show much interest in it.
I’ve tried to get a family member to read parts of the Sequences in hopes of getting to a point where we could resolve a long-standing disagreement, but they don’t show much interest in it.
In my experience, it works far better to internalize the message of a text and then communicate the pieces of that message that are relevant to my discussions with people as they come up, than to point people to the text.
Of course, it’s also a lot more work, and not all discussions (or relationships) are worth it.
I’ve linked LW several times on a (videogame) forum and the reaction has been mostly positive. A few are regular readers now, though I don’t believe any participate in discussion. I think two have read most of the sequences. At least one regularly links EY articles on Facebook.
Another small sample, of course. And I haven’t really linked articles on FAI/MWI/cryonics.
Not a large number; this is mostly gathered from discussions on internet forums. The sites I hang around on are generally science-fiction related in nature. While there are a few people who know of LW and think it has something valuable, many (relatively high-status) members think of it as being overly “self-important” or “full of hot air”; most don’t outright disagree with the overall point (or never pin down their disagreement exactly), but state that the jargon makes LW useless, or that it states obvious things in a pretentious way, or that it’s a close-minded community of “true believers” (the places I hang out are largely atheistic, so this is very much an insult).
In some ways, LW has suffered from HPMoR—anyone who doesn’t like the story for whatever reason isn’t likely to like the site, and I think it’s plausible that some of those people would have liked the site if not for the story—though it’s also more likely that many more people wouldn’t have found LW without HPMoR.
Introducing people to Less Wrong outside the internet, my much more limited experience is that to most people, it’s just an interesting blog. It’s shiny, but not useful. I’ve tried to get a family member to read parts of the Sequences in hopes of getting to a point where we could resolve a long-standing disagreement, but they don’t show much interest in it.
In my experience, it works far better to internalize the message of a text and then communicate the pieces of that message that are relevant to my discussions with people as they come up, than to point people to the text.
Of course, it’s also a lot more work, and not all discussions (or relationships) are worth it.
I’ve linked LW several times on a (videogame) forum and the reaction has been mostly positive. A few are regular readers now, though I don’t believe any participate in discussion. I think two have read most of the sequences. At least one regularly links EY articles on Facebook.
Another small sample, of course. And I haven’t really linked articles on FAI/MWI/cryonics.