This comment will be heavy with jargon, to convey complex ideas with the minimum required words. That is what jargon is for, after all. The post’s long enough even with this shortening.
Less Wrong inspires a feeling of wonder.
To see humans working seriously to advance the robot rebellion is inspiring. To become better, overcome the programming laid in by Azathoth and actually improve our future.
The audacity to challenge death itself, to reach for the stars, is breathtaking. The piercing insight in many of the works here is startling. And the gift of being able to find joy in the merely real again is priceless. It doesn’t hurt that it’s spearheaded by an extremely intelligent and honest person who’s powers of written communication are among the greatest of his generation.
And that sense of awe and wonder makes people flinch. Especially people who have been trained to be wary of that sort of shit. Who’ve seen the glassed-over eyes of their fundamentalist families and the dazed ramblings of hippies named Storm. As much as HJPEV has tried to train himself to never flinch away from the truth, to never let his brain lie to him, MANY of us have been trained just as strongly to always flinch away from awe and wonder produced by charismatic people. In fact, if we had a “don’t let your brain lie to you” instinct as strong as our “don’t let awe and wonder seduce you into idiocy” instinct we’d be half way to being good rationalists already.
And honestly, that instinct is a good one. It saves us from insanity 98% of the time. But it’ll occasionally result in a woo/cult-warning where one could genuinely and legitimately feel wonder and awe. I don’t blame people for trusting their instincts and avoiding the site. And it’ll mean we forever get people saying “I dunno what it is, but that Less Wrong site feels kinda cultish to me.”
We’re open, we’re transparent, we are a positive force in the lives of our members. We’ve got nothing to fear, and that’s why occasional accusations of cultishness will never stick. We’ve just got to learn to live with the vibe and realize that those who stick around long enough to look deeper will bear out that we’re not.
It’s nice to still have that awe and wonder somewhere. I wouldn’t ever want to give that up just so a larger percentage of the skeptic community accepts us. That feeling is integral to this site, giving it up would kill LW for me.
This comment will be heavy with jargon, to convey complex ideas with the minimum required words. That is what jargon is for, after all. The post’s long enough even with this shortening.
Less Wrong inspires a feeling of wonder.
To see humans working seriously to advance the robot rebellion is inspiring. To become better, overcome the programming laid in by Azathoth and actually improve our future.
The audacity to challenge death itself, to reach for the stars, is breathtaking. The piercing insight in many of the works here is startling. And the gift of being able to find joy in the merely real again is priceless. It doesn’t hurt that it’s spearheaded by an extremely intelligent and honest person who’s powers of written communication are among the greatest of his generation.
And that sense of awe and wonder makes people flinch. Especially people who have been trained to be wary of that sort of shit. Who’ve seen the glassed-over eyes of their fundamentalist families and the dazed ramblings of hippies named Storm. As much as HJPEV has tried to train himself to never flinch away from the truth, to never let his brain lie to him, MANY of us have been trained just as strongly to always flinch away from awe and wonder produced by charismatic people. In fact, if we had a “don’t let your brain lie to you” instinct as strong as our “don’t let awe and wonder seduce you into idiocy” instinct we’d be half way to being good rationalists already.
And honestly, that instinct is a good one. It saves us from insanity 98% of the time. But it’ll occasionally result in a woo/cult-warning where one could genuinely and legitimately feel wonder and awe. I don’t blame people for trusting their instincts and avoiding the site. And it’ll mean we forever get people saying “I dunno what it is, but that Less Wrong site feels kinda cultish to me.”
We’re open, we’re transparent, we are a positive force in the lives of our members. We’ve got nothing to fear, and that’s why occasional accusations of cultishness will never stick. We’ve just got to learn to live with the vibe and realize that those who stick around long enough to look deeper will bear out that we’re not.
It’s nice to still have that awe and wonder somewhere. I wouldn’t ever want to give that up just so a larger percentage of the skeptic community accepts us. That feeling is integral to this site, giving it up would kill LW for me.
I think this post can be modified, without much effort, to defend any pseudo-cult, or even a cheesy movie.