I guess “relevant” depends on what kind of help you want. If you just want a journal article that someone can download in under a minute “relevant” is going to be fairly broad.
If you want someone’s help proofreading a paper you wrote, the definition is going to me more narrow as that requires more work.
Just model the people on Lesswrong in your mind and ask: “Do I think they would want to help here?”
If the issue is relevant in a way that would embarrass you, you are probably good enough at modelling this community to avoid asking.
As asking is generally quite low cost, it’s not the end of the world if you do write a request that on the edge of being relevant and nobody wants to help.
If the issue is relevant in a way that would embarrass you, you are probably good enough at modelling this community to avoid asking.
Surely you mean “irrelevant in a way that would embarrass you”? If it’s embarrassing but relevant wouldn’t it be advisable to a) suck it up or b) PM someone or post under a sockpuppet or whatever, if it’s really that bad?
I guess “relevant” depends on what kind of help you want. If you just want a journal article that someone can download in under a minute “relevant” is going to be fairly broad. If you want someone’s help proofreading a paper you wrote, the definition is going to me more narrow as that requires more work.
Just model the people on Lesswrong in your mind and ask: “Do I think they would want to help here?” If the issue is relevant in a way that would embarrass you, you are probably good enough at modelling this community to avoid asking.
As asking is generally quite low cost, it’s not the end of the world if you do write a request that on the edge of being relevant and nobody wants to help.
Surely you mean “irrelevant in a way that would embarrass you”? If it’s embarrassing but relevant wouldn’t it be advisable to a) suck it up or b) PM someone or post under a sockpuppet or whatever, if it’s really that bad?