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Con­ver­sa­tion (topic)

TagLast edit: Jan 29, 2023, 6:28 AM by papetoast

A conversation is when two people talk or correspond. Most content here is about how to have good conversations. (This wikitag needs work.)

For records of conversations, see Interviews, Debates,...

See also:

Conversation Halter

This term was introduced on LessWrong by Eliezer in the eponymous post:

While working on my book, I found in passing that I’d developed a list of what I started out calling “stonewalls”, but have since decided to refer to as “conversation halters”. These tactics of argument are distinguished by their being attempts to cut off the flow of debate—which is rarely the wisest way to think, and should certainly rate an alarm bell.

Noise on the Channel

abramdemskiJul 2, 2020, 1:58 AM
31 points
8 comments10 min readLW link

Yud­kowsky’s ‘Four Lay­ers of In­tel­lec­tual Con­ver­sa­tion’

Gram_StoneJan 8, 2017, 9:47 PM
29 points
3 comments1 min readLW link
(rationalconspiracy.com)

To listen well, get curious

benkuhnDec 13, 2020, 12:20 AM
365 points
37 comments4 min readLW link1 review
(www.benkuhn.net)

Con­ver­sa­tional canyons

Henrik KarlssonJan 4, 2023, 6:55 PM
59 points
4 comments7 min readLW link
(escapingflatland.substack.com)

Choos­ing bat­tles (on the In­ter­net)

PatrickDFarleyJan 20, 2022, 3:38 PM
24 points
2 comments4 min readLW link

Ex­ces­sive Nuance and Derailing Conversations

AlexanderJan 23, 2022, 10:42 AM
43 points
13 comments4 min readLW link

A Sketch of Good Communication

Ben PaceMar 31, 2018, 10:48 PM
206 points
36 comments3 min readLW link1 review

Ta­boo Your Words

Eliezer YudkowskyFeb 15, 2008, 10:53 PM
284 points
133 comments3 min readLW link

Ex­plore/​Ex­ploit for Conversations

HazardNov 15, 2018, 4:11 AM
39 points
2 comments5 min readLW link

What product are you build­ing?

RaemonJul 4, 2019, 7:08 PM
57 points
6 comments2 min readLW link

Do you fear the rock or the hard place?

RubyJul 20, 2019, 10:01 PM
77 points
10 comments5 min readLW link3 reviews

Notic­ing Frame Differences

RaemonSep 30, 2019, 1:24 AM
218 points
40 comments9 min readLW link2 reviews

Hash­ing out long-stand­ing dis­agree­ments seems low-value to me

So8resFeb 16, 2023, 6:20 AM
141 points
34 comments4 min readLW link

Writ­ing Down Conversations

RaemonDec 28, 2017, 10:08 PM
53 points
13 comments2 min readLW link

Do Con­ver­sa­tions Often Cir­cle Back To The Same Topic?

lifelonglearnerMay 24, 2018, 3:07 AM
3 points
0 comments1 min readLW link
(mindlevelup.wordpress.com)

On­line vs. Per­sonal Conversations

katydeeDec 28, 2013, 4:31 AM
12 points
26 comments1 min readLW link

Com­mon vs Ex­pert Jar­gon

RaemonSep 21, 2017, 3:05 AM
50 points
17 comments4 min readLW link

In­form­ers and Persuaders

Eliezer YudkowskyFeb 10, 2009, 8:22 PM
34 points
21 comments5 min readLW link

Illu­sion of Trans­parency: Why No One Un­der­stands You

Eliezer YudkowskyOct 20, 2007, 11:49 PM
176 points
52 comments3 min readLW link

Sticker Short­cut Fal­lacy — The Real Worst Ar­gu­ment in the World

ymeskhoutJun 12, 2024, 2:52 PM
27 points
15 comments4 min readLW link
(www.ymeskhout.com)

Hu­man­ity isn’t re­motely longter­mist, so ar­gu­ments for AGI x-risk should fo­cus on the near term

Seth HerdAug 12, 2024, 6:10 PM
46 points
10 comments1 min readLW link

On the im­por­tance of Less Wrong, or an­other sin­gle con­ver­sa­tional locus

AnnaSalamonNov 27, 2016, 5:13 PM
176 points
365 comments4 min readLW link

Con­ver­sa­tional Cul­tures: Com­bat vs Nur­ture (V2)

RubyDec 31, 2019, 8:23 PM
143 points
92 comments9 min readLW link5 reviews

How to always have in­ter­est­ing conversations

Kaj_SotalaJun 14, 2010, 12:35 AM
70 points
351 comments2 min readLW link

“Out­side View!” as Con­ver­sa­tion-Halter

Eliezer YudkowskyFeb 24, 2010, 5:53 AM
93 points
103 comments7 min readLW link

Con­ver­sa­tion Halters

Eliezer YudkowskyFeb 20, 2010, 3:00 PM
78 points
98 comments4 min readLW link

In­creas­ing day to day con­ver­sa­tional rationality

HazardNov 16, 2017, 9:18 PM
13 points
11 comments3 min readLW link

Co­op­er­a­tive con­ver­sa­tional threading

philhApr 15, 2015, 6:40 PM
38 points
25 comments2 min readLW link

Ther­a­peu­tic Conversation

alkjashJan 24, 2018, 3:23 AM
7 points
4 comments3 min readLW link
(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Hav­ing Use­ful Conversations

paulfchristianoJul 12, 2011, 6:29 AM
24 points
25 comments1 min readLW link

The Geog­ra­phy of the Room — im­pact of po­si­tion, ori­en­ta­tion, and visi­bil­ity on how of­ten ex­traverts start conversations

less_penguinyMay 12, 2019, 5:21 PM
11 points
0 comments1 min readLW link
(www.lesspenguiny.com)

“Life Ex­pe­rience” as a Con­ver­sa­tion-Halter

Seth_GoldinMar 18, 2010, 7:39 PM
10 points
65 comments1 min readLW link

Reflec­tive Complaints

RaemonMay 21, 2020, 9:11 PM
37 points
20 comments1 min readLW link

A Prac­ti­cal Guide to Con­flict Re­s­olu­tion: Comprehension

eapacheJun 13, 2020, 3:08 PM
30 points
0 comments4 min readLW link

Ac­cord­ing to Dale Carnegie, You Can’t Win an Ar­gu­ment—and He Has a Point

ChrisHallquistNov 30, 2013, 6:23 AM
112 points
80 comments5 min readLW link

Ar­gu­ments and rele­vance claims

Kaj_SotalaMay 5, 2014, 4:49 PM
40 points
16 comments2 min readLW link

Against ac­cus­ing peo­ple of motte and bailey

Kaj_SotalaJun 3, 2018, 9:31 PM
43 points
14 comments4 min readLW link

Lurk­ing More Be­fore Join­ing Com­plex Conversations

RaemonJul 11, 2020, 5:11 PM
42 points
11 comments3 min readLW link

Creat­ing bet­ter in­fras­truc­ture for con­tro­ver­sial dis­course

Rudi CJun 16, 2020, 3:17 PM
66 points
11 comments2 min readLW link

De­cou­pling vs Con­tex­tu­al­is­ing Norms

Chris_LeongMay 14, 2018, 10:44 PM
170 points
51 comments2 min readLW link3 reviews

Com­bin­ing Pre­dic­tion Tech­nolo­gies to Help Moder­ate Discussions

Wei DaiDec 8, 2016, 12:19 AM
21 points
15 comments1 min readLW link

Crowd­sourc­ing mod­er­a­tion with­out sac­ri­fic­ing quality

paulfchristianoDec 2, 2016, 9:47 PM
18 points
26 comments1 min readLW link
(sideways-view.com)

Ex­pect­ing Short In­fer­en­tial Distances

Eliezer YudkowskyOct 22, 2007, 11:42 PM
380 points
106 comments3 min readLW link

Ba­sic Con­ver­sa­tional Co­or­di­na­tion: Micro-co­or­di­na­tion of In­ten­tion

Eli TyreJul 27, 2020, 10:41 PM
41 points
7 comments2 min readLW link

Philo­soph­i­cal Landmines

[deleted]Feb 8, 2013, 9:22 PM
165 points
146 comments3 min readLW link

Public Po­si­tions and Pri­vate Guts

VaniverOct 11, 2018, 7:38 PM
85 points
13 comments8 min readLW link

Par­tial sum­mary of de­bate with Ben­quo and Jes­si­cata [pt 1]

RaemonAug 14, 2019, 8:02 PM
89 points
63 comments22 min readLW link3 reviews

The Prob­le­matic Third Per­son Perspective

abramdemskiOct 5, 2017, 8:44 PM
28 points
3 comments4 min readLW link

Ex­pla­na­tion vs Rationalization

abramdemskiFeb 22, 2018, 11:46 PM
16 points
11 comments4 min readLW link

Hufflepuff Cyn­i­cism on Crocker’s Rule

abramdemskiFeb 14, 2018, 12:52 AM
16 points
11 comments2 min readLW link

On Disingenuity

Chris_LeongDec 26, 2018, 5:08 PM
28 points
3 comments1 min readLW link

Meta-con­ver­sa­tion shouldn’t be taboo

Adam ZernerJun 5, 2023, 12:19 AM
34 points
36 comments4 min readLW link

Some rea­sons why I fre­quently pre­fer com­mu­ni­cat­ing via text

Adam ZernerSep 18, 2023, 9:50 PM
51 points
18 comments2 min readLW link

On be­ing downvoted

Adam ZernerSep 17, 2023, 1:59 AM
27 points
15 comments3 min readLW link

Trans­la­tions Should Invert

abramdemskiOct 5, 2023, 5:44 PM
48 points
19 comments3 min readLW link

De­bug­ging the student

Adam ZernerDec 16, 2020, 7:07 AM
46 points
7 comments4 min readLW link

We des­per­ately need to talk more about hu­man challenge tri­als.

DirectedEvolutionDec 19, 2020, 10:00 AM
29 points
25 comments4 min readLW link

Con­ver­sa­tion, event loops, and er­ror handling

Adam ZernerJan 8, 2021, 8:05 AM
21 points
2 comments7 min readLW link

Sup­port vs Ad­vice & Hold­ing Off Solutions

abramdemskiFeb 23, 2021, 1:12 AM
29 points
6 comments2 min readLW link

Why don’t long run­ning con­ver­sa­tions hap­pen on LessWrong?

Adam ZernerMay 30, 2021, 10:36 PM
64 points
75 comments2 min readLW link

Im­pli­ca­ture Conflation

abramdemskiAug 9, 2021, 7:48 PM
54 points
5 comments7 min readLW link

18 pos­si­ble mean­ings of “I Like Red”

ozziegooenAug 23, 2021, 11:25 PM
29 points
14 comments3 min readLW link

Frac­tal Con­ver­sa­tions vs Holis­tic Response

abramdemskiMay 5, 2021, 3:04 PM
43 points
4 comments3 min readLW link

Con­ver­sa­tion as path traversal

Adam ZernerDec 27, 2021, 8:41 AM
14 points
4 comments4 min readLW link

The Con­ver­sa­tions We Make Space For

Severin T. SeehrichJul 28, 2022, 9:37 PM
21 points
0 comments3 min readLW link

Quick Book Re­view: Cru­cial Conversations

Gordon Seidoh WorleySep 19, 2022, 6:25 AM
28 points
2 comments2 min readLW link

Small Talk is Good, Actually

Gordon Seidoh WorleyFeb 4, 2023, 12:38 AM
52 points
9 comments3 min readLW link

“You’ll Never Per­suade Peo­ple Like That”

Zack_M_DavisMar 12, 2023, 5:38 AM
18 points
31 comments2 min readLW link

Notes on Sincer­ity and such

David GrossDec 1, 2020, 5:09 AM
9 points
2 comments10 min readLW link

Notes on Amiability

David GrossFeb 15, 2021, 7:34 PM
16 points
9 comments6 min readLW link

AI scares and chang­ing pub­lic beliefs

Seth HerdApr 6, 2023, 6:51 PM
46 points
21 comments6 min readLW link

Sim­pler ex­pla­na­tions of AGI risk

Seth HerdMay 14, 2023, 1:29 AM
8 points
9 comments3 min readLW link

Shift­ing Lead­er­ship from Skep­ti­cism to Trust

Bern SalongaJan 13, 2025, 11:35 PM
1 point
0 comments1 min readLW link

The Power to Un­der­stand “God”

LironSep 12, 2019, 6:38 PM
18 points
46 comments5 min readLW link

A few analo­gies to illus­trate key ra­tio­nal­ity points

kilobugOct 9, 2011, 1:00 PM
69 points
52 comments5 min readLW link

Ra­tion­ally End­ing Discussions

curiAug 12, 2020, 8:34 PM
−7 points
27 comments14 min readLW link

Is That Your True Re­jec­tion?

Eliezer YudkowskyDec 6, 2008, 2:26 PM
163 points
100 comments3 min readLW link

You’re never wrong in­ject­ing com­plex­ity, but rarely you’re right

MrMindOct 3, 2018, 2:20 PM
36 points
6 comments2 min readLW link

Maps vs But­tons; Nerds vs Normies

Bound_upDec 28, 2017, 9:11 PM
24 points
23 comments6 min readLW link

Rare Ex­cep­tion or Com­mon Exception

weftOct 13, 2017, 10:02 PM
14 points
3 comments1 min readLW link

The Pink Sparkly Ball Thing (Use unique, non-ob­vi­ous terms for nu­anced con­cepts)

MalcolmOceanFeb 20, 2016, 11:25 PM
36 points
14 comments5 min readLW link

Up­dat­ing My LW Com­ment­ing Policy

curiAug 18, 2020, 4:48 PM
7 points
1 comment4 min readLW link

Pre­sump­tive Listen­ing: stick­ing to fa­mil­iar con­cepts and miss­ing the outer rea­son­ing paths

RemmeltDec 27, 2022, 3:40 PM
−16 points
8 comments2 min readLW link
(mflb.com)

Find your­self a Wor­thy Op­po­nent: a Chavruta

Raw_PowerJul 6, 2011, 10:59 AM
48 points
74 comments3 min readLW link

To ev­ery peo­ple ac­cord­ing to their language

Yair HalberstadtOct 4, 2021, 6:42 PM
32 points
2 comments3 min readLW link

The en­g­ineer and the diplomat

BenquoDec 27, 2016, 8:49 PM
35 points
11 comments1 min readLW link
(benjaminrosshoffman.com)

The Truth about Scots­men, or: Dis­solv­ing Fallacies

TesseractDec 5, 2010, 9:57 PM
37 points
36 comments3 min readLW link

How my so­cial skills went from hor­rible to mediocre

JonahSMay 19, 2015, 11:29 PM
50 points
199 comments11 min readLW link

Don’t Get Offended

katydeeMar 7, 2013, 2:11 AM
41 points
584 comments2 min readLW link

Ra­tional Communication

Swimmer963 (Miranda Dixon-Luinenburg) Sep 10, 2011, 2:30 AM
37 points
38 comments4 min readLW link

Thoughts on the Fea­si­bil­ity of Pro­saic AGI Align­ment?

iamthouthouartiAug 21, 2020, 11:25 PM
8 points
10 comments1 min readLW link

Men­tal Metadata

AlicornMar 30, 2011, 3:07 AM
47 points
35 comments3 min readLW link

Spec­u­la­tions on im­prov­ing debating

Richard_NgoNov 5, 2018, 4:10 PM
22 points
4 comments4 min readLW link
(thinkingcomplete.blogspot.com)

Is fake news bul­lshit or ly­ing?

HarperSachsMay 26, 2020, 4:55 PM
22 points
8 comments4 min readLW link

Up­dated Hier­ar­chy of Disagreement

B JacobsMay 28, 2020, 3:57 PM
14 points
13 comments2 min readLW link

The non­cen­tral fal­lacy—the worst ar­gu­ment in the world?

Scott AlexanderAug 27, 2012, 3:36 AM
425 points
1,768 comments7 min readLW link

Raw Post: Talk­ing With My Brother

DirectedEvolutionJul 13, 2019, 2:57 AM
23 points
6 comments5 min readLW link

Think Be­fore You Speak (And Sig­nal It)

Wei DaiMar 19, 2010, 10:21 PM
35 points
40 comments2 min readLW link

Sport­ing vs. Herd­ing: two styles of discourse

Suspended ReasonJul 25, 2020, 1:56 AM
5 points
4 comments9 min readLW link

How to learn from conversations

Neel NandaJul 25, 2020, 9:36 AM
16 points
3 comments4 min readLW link
(www.neelnanda.io)

Effec­tively Han­dling Disagree­ments—In­tro­duc­ing a New Workshop

Camille Berger Apr 15, 2024, 4:33 PM
37 points
2 comments7 min readLW link

More thoughts on assertions

Scott AlexanderMar 25, 2010, 1:39 AM
28 points
31 comments6 min readLW link

Lead­ing Dis­cus­sions: Ad­dress­ing Time Monopolizers

SwingDancerMikeJun 21, 2012, 4:44 PM
36 points
21 comments3 min readLW link

Con­ta­gious Beliefs—Si­mu­lat­ing Poli­ti­cal Alignment

James Stephen BrownOct 13, 2024, 12:27 AM
8 points
0 comments2 min readLW link
(nonzerosum.games)

“I know I’m bi­ased, but...”

[deleted]May 10, 2011, 8:03 PM
32 points
21 comments3 min readLW link

[Question] How to de­vour 5000 pages within a day if Chat­gpt crashes upon the +50mb file con­tain­ing the con­tent? Need some recom­men­da­tions.

GameSep 27, 2024, 7:30 AM
1 point
0 comments1 min readLW link

Counterspells

Virgil KurkjianApr 27, 2019, 11:37 PM
100 points
24 comments10 min readLW link

“Model UN Solu­tions”

Arjun PanicksseryDec 8, 2023, 11:06 PM
36 points
5 comments1 min readLW link
(open.substack.com)

Con­ver­sa­tional Sign­posts—How to stop hav­ing bor­ing so­cial interactions

Declan MolonyOct 22, 2024, 5:37 AM
11 points
6 comments2 min readLW link

What i learned giv­ing a lec­ture on NVC

Yoav RavidFeb 20, 2019, 9:08 AM
13 points
2 comments2 min readLW link

Tran­shu­man­ism and the de­no­ta­tion-con­no­ta­tion gap

PhilGoetzAug 18, 2010, 3:33 PM
25 points
31 comments2 min readLW link

How to Not Lose an Argument

Scott AlexanderMar 19, 2009, 1:07 AM
164 points
416 comments6 min readLW link

When Truth Isn’t Enough

Scott AlexanderMar 22, 2009, 8:23 PM
135 points
59 comments3 min readLW link

Meta-tations on Moder­a­tion: Towards Public Archipelago

RaemonFeb 25, 2018, 3:59 AM
80 points
176 comments23 min readLW link

Us­ing GPT-3 for pre­vent­ing con­flict dur­ing mes­sag­ing — a pitch for an app

Eli_Mar 17, 2022, 11:02 AM
22 points
17 comments3 min readLW link

The Power of Reinforcement

lukeprogJun 21, 2012, 1:42 PM
172 points
474 comments4 min readLW link

The Power to De­mol­ish Bad Arguments

LironSep 2, 2019, 12:57 PM
100 points
84 comments11 min readLW link6 reviews

The Power to Teach Con­cepts Better

LironSep 23, 2019, 12:21 AM
91 points
23 comments8 min readLW link1 review

How to Sup­port Some­one Who is Struggling

David ZellerMar 11, 2023, 6:52 PM
76 points
13 comments5 min readLW link

Hand­shakes, Hi, and What’s New: What’s Go­ing On With Small Talk?

BenquoJan 2, 2014, 10:08 PM
107 points
79 comments5 min readLW link

Con­ver­sa­tion Visualizer

Dec 31, 2023, 1:18 AM
28 points
4 comments5 min readLW link
(210ethan.github.io)

Against Pre­ma­ture Ab­strac­tion of Poli­ti­cal Issues

Wei DaiDec 18, 2019, 8:19 PM
93 points
22 comments2 min readLW link

Re­mem­ber to trans­late your thoughts back again

brookNov 1, 2022, 8:49 AM
25 points
11 comments3 min readLW link
(forum.effectivealtruism.org)

How Speci­fic­ity Works

LironSep 3, 2019, 12:11 PM
90 points
47 comments7 min readLW link

In My Culture

Duncan Sabien (Deactivated)Mar 7, 2019, 7:22 AM
68 points
59 comments24 min readLW link2 reviews
(medium.com)

Over­com­ing the Curse of Knowledge

JesseGalefOct 18, 2011, 5:39 PM
60 points
56 comments3 min readLW link

Defend­ing points you don’t care about

HazardJun 19, 2019, 8:40 PM
41 points
6 comments4 min readLW link
No comments.