“I talk about controversial topics, like atheism and utilitarianism, with others in my community.” The question is kind of vague, and as such will probably lead to vague answers. For example, this presupposes that atheism is controversial. So, if I answered “Strongly disagree,” will that be interpreted as my not talking about controversial topics, or as my not talking about atheism? If I talk about atheism and it’s hip and cool (and no one speaks up against me because the local culture is heavy on negative politeness), which option should I pick?
The “childhood situation” section is a bit weird. For one, it’d be helpful to spell out the concrete age range you’re thinking of. For two, most people, children or otherwise, don’t talk about stuff like utilitarianism. I mean, most people of any age probably don’t even know what it means, and I wouldn’t bet money on my being able to produce a serviceable definition, either. I wonder if it will mean anything if the results for that question come up like 80% “Strongly Disagree”. (V urerol thrff gung gurl jvyy.)
That’s true. It might have been better to phrase it as “topics sometimes considered controversial.” I was trying to delineate a rather large blob of ideas in not too many words.
The results for that question are actually quite variable so far. Maybe this says something about the childhoods of people on LessWrong?
I took the survey. A couple of points:
“I talk about controversial topics, like atheism and utilitarianism, with others in my community.” The question is kind of vague, and as such will probably lead to vague answers. For example, this presupposes that atheism is controversial. So, if I answered “Strongly disagree,” will that be interpreted as my not talking about controversial topics, or as my not talking about atheism? If I talk about atheism and it’s hip and cool (and no one speaks up against me because the local culture is heavy on negative politeness), which option should I pick?
The “childhood situation” section is a bit weird. For one, it’d be helpful to spell out the concrete age range you’re thinking of. For two, most people, children or otherwise, don’t talk about stuff like utilitarianism. I mean, most people of any age probably don’t even know what it means, and I wouldn’t bet money on my being able to produce a serviceable definition, either. I wonder if it will mean anything if the results for that question come up like 80% “Strongly Disagree”. (V urerol thrff gung gurl jvyy.)
That’s true. It might have been better to phrase it as “topics sometimes considered controversial.” I was trying to delineate a rather large blob of ideas in not too many words.
The results for that question are actually quite variable so far. Maybe this says something about the childhoods of people on LessWrong?