On the other hand if the new people dilute or overwhelm LW culture and lower the sanity waterline on LW, it won’t be able to raise the sanity waterline in the rest of the world. It’s a balancing act.
Firstly, it is not my view that we should not bring in new people. My view is that if we bring in too many new people at once, it will be intolerable for the old users and they will leave. That won’t raise the sanity waterline as effectively as growing the site at a stable pace.
Secondly, the poll has an option “Send beginners to the Center for Applied Rationality” (spelled “Modern” not “Applied” in the poll because I was unaware that CFMR changed it’s name to CFAR).
I’m curious, how do you propose spreading ideas or raising the sanity waterline without bringing in new people?
If you want to spread ideas, don’t bring outsiders in, send missionaries out.
Missionaries will nearly inevitably mention LessWrong, which will still attract people to the site (even if they don’t stay around for long.)
People can have read-only access.
On the other hand if the new people dilute or overwhelm LW culture and lower the sanity waterline on LW, it won’t be able to raise the sanity waterline in the rest of the world. It’s a balancing act.
Firstly, it is not my view that we should not bring in new people. My view is that if we bring in too many new people at once, it will be intolerable for the old users and they will leave. That won’t raise the sanity waterline as effectively as growing the site at a stable pace.
Secondly, the poll has an option “Send beginners to the Center for Applied Rationality” (spelled “Modern” not “Applied” in the poll because I was unaware that CFMR changed it’s name to CFAR).