Random thought: maybe there could have been disproportional gains got by getting Said to involve more humor in his messaging and branding him the official Fool of Lesswrong.com?
It seems the community indeed gets service out of Said shooting down low quality communication, and limiting that form of communication socially to his specific role maybe would have insulated the wider social implications, so that most value would have been preserved each way, maybe?
My model of Said would have been offended by being asked to take on a Jester role as a condition of staying on LessWrong, but perhaps he would have been interested?
I do think the background culture that we’re in is one that doesn’t really have this role anymore, because comedians are sometimes major public figures whose opinions are treated with respect; people don’t dismiss what they say just because they’re frivolous.
Random thought: maybe there could have been disproportional gains got by getting Said to involve more humor in his messaging and branding him the official Fool of Lesswrong.com?
It seems the community indeed gets service out of Said shooting down low quality communication, and limiting that form of communication socially to his specific role maybe would have insulated the wider social implications, so that most value would have been preserved each way, maybe?
My model of Said would have been offended by being asked to take on a Jester role as a condition of staying on LessWrong, but perhaps he would have been interested?
I do think the background culture that we’re in is one that doesn’t really have this role anymore, because comedians are sometimes major public figures whose opinions are treated with respect; people don’t dismiss what they say just because they’re frivolous.
I think it still sounds intriguing to try it out sometime. (With a different user who is funnier than Said.)
I volunteer as tribute