Rationalists have a tendency to sound a little bit like Spock, but in reality we are all human here. I’d say that doing a good job managing relationships with other humans, and learning to be kind, doesn’t just fall within the realm of rationalism—it’s crucial to our success! There are a number of things I love about Scott. To me he seems insightful and even-handed, but most relevant here is that he seems like a nice person. So I was not at all impressed the first time I heard Jordan, when he said:
“Alright so I just read the worst Slate Star Codex article I’ve ever read (a new low) and I’m now more determined than ever to host an event where I try to convince members of this community that Scott Alexander is a pseudo-intellectual not worth reading.”
This was not followed by any explanation of what Scott had done wrong, or what a “pseudo-intellectual” is. Though reportedly it was meant to be facetious, I just couldn’t read it that way. If you’re going to criticize Scott, try at least not to make obvious mistakes that Scott himself wouldn’t make, such as sounding like a jerk.
That said, I am curious what Jordan has to say. For starters, which writers are sufficiently free from mistakes that they are “worth reading”, and what criteria qualify a person as “intellectual”?
I’m sure Scott has made mistakes. Personally, I make mistakes with shocking regularity. And I do think when Scott is talking about a subject where he has little expertise, the disclaimer at the top about that lack of expertise should not be in small text, and Scott may need more expressions of uncertainty (weasel words).
But I think there is a tension between correctness and popularity. The thing is, perfection is not only difficult, it’s time consuming. I have been known to review my own articles over a dozen times before posting them (and errors may still slip through). My carefulness in turn leads to a low posting frequency, which probably contributes to my unpopularity. If you want to be popular, you have to put out. Look at The Eliezer—I think his stuff is riddled with defects of various types, but he wrote fast and was popular. His stuff is at least mostly good enough to be worth reading, so I do.
I wonder if we could develop a process where the community’s best writers (and the occasional newcomer) could write “drafts” which would be posted semi-publicly in a “draft” area and then be edited by members trusted by the author (with expert input, if the subject matter demands expert input), before being reposted “publicly for reals this time”. Though if you ask me, priority one for improvement isn’t SSC, it’s The Sequences.
Rationalists have a tendency to sound a little bit like Spock, but in reality we are all human here. I’d say that doing a good job managing relationships with other humans, and learning to be kind, doesn’t just fall within the realm of rationalism—it’s crucial to our success! There are a number of things I love about Scott. To me he seems insightful and even-handed, but most relevant here is that he seems like a nice person. So I was not at all impressed the first time I heard Jordan, when he said:
“Alright so I just read the worst Slate Star Codex article I’ve ever read (a new low) and I’m now more determined than ever to host an event where I try to convince members of this community that Scott Alexander is a pseudo-intellectual not worth reading.”
This was not followed by any explanation of what Scott had done wrong, or what a “pseudo-intellectual” is. Though reportedly it was meant to be facetious, I just couldn’t read it that way. If you’re going to criticize Scott, try at least not to make obvious mistakes that Scott himself wouldn’t make, such as sounding like a jerk.
That said, I am curious what Jordan has to say. For starters, which writers are sufficiently free from mistakes that they are “worth reading”, and what criteria qualify a person as “intellectual”?
I’m sure Scott has made mistakes. Personally, I make mistakes with shocking regularity. And I do think when Scott is talking about a subject where he has little expertise, the disclaimer at the top about that lack of expertise should not be in small text, and Scott may need more expressions of uncertainty (weasel words).
But I think there is a tension between correctness and popularity. The thing is, perfection is not only difficult, it’s time consuming. I have been known to review my own articles over a dozen times before posting them (and errors may still slip through). My carefulness in turn leads to a low posting frequency, which probably contributes to my unpopularity. If you want to be popular, you have to put out. Look at The Eliezer—I think his stuff is riddled with defects of various types, but he wrote fast and was popular. His stuff is at least mostly good enough to be worth reading, so I do.
I wonder if we could develop a process where the community’s best writers (and the occasional newcomer) could write “drafts” which would be posted semi-publicly in a “draft” area and then be edited by members trusted by the author (with expert input, if the subject matter demands expert input), before being reposted “publicly for reals this time”. Though if you ask me, priority one for improvement isn’t SSC, it’s The Sequences.