I agree politics shouldn’t be discussed on LW, but I’m not the one who started the whole 911 thing. The first post on that topic was from Robin Hanson on OB, later EY made at least two postings on that topic on LW, and then it has sprung up sometimes in reference to conspiracy theories, etc… if it was possible to raise the topic in the first place it should also be allowed to present dissenting views.
It’s become something of a canonical example of a conspiracy theory. Eliezer would have been better served choosing something less topical, but I don’t think bringing it up in the context of an example fringe belief is politicized to anywhere near the same extent as bringing it up as a serious proposal would be, for the same reason it isn’t particularly controversial to say that, for example, President Obama is not regularly engaged in Satanic ritual abuse.
There’s an asymmetry there, but it’s one that you should expect when dealing with uncommon beliefs.
I agree politics shouldn’t be discussed on LW, but I’m not the one who started the whole 911 thing. The first post on that topic was from Robin Hanson on OB, later EY made at least two postings on that topic on LW, and then it has sprung up sometimes in reference to conspiracy theories, etc… if it was possible to raise the topic in the first place it should also be allowed to present dissenting views.
It’s become something of a canonical example of a conspiracy theory. Eliezer would have been better served choosing something less topical, but I don’t think bringing it up in the context of an example fringe belief is politicized to anywhere near the same extent as bringing it up as a serious proposal would be, for the same reason it isn’t particularly controversial to say that, for example, President Obama is not regularly engaged in Satanic ritual abuse.
There’s an asymmetry there, but it’s one that you should expect when dealing with uncommon beliefs.