This article is a response to this comment, which was actually mostly about this comment. Posting an entire article in response to half of that comment does strike me as an overreaction. (I’d be interested in Konkvistador’s similar-length response to Jade’s comment, though; there’s a body of work there raising quite apposite concerns about problems with LW as a social environment—specifically, the existing real world problem of creepers at LW meetups—that won’t disappear by merely downvoting them.)
Thanks for linking to the context! In fairness, though, if people are citing RationalWiki as proof that LessWrong has a “reputation”, then devoting a discussion-level post to it doesn’t strike me as excessive.
(On a related note: I hadn’t read Jade’s comments, but I did after you flagged them as interesting; they struck me as totally devoid of value. Would you mind explaining what you think the valid concern he/she’s expressing is?)
This article is a response to this comment, which was actually mostly about this comment. Posting an entire article in response to half of that comment does strike me as an overreaction. (I’d be interested in Konkvistador’s similar-length response to Jade’s comment, though; there’s a body of work there raising quite apposite concerns about problems with LW as a social environment—specifically, the existing real world problem of creepers at LW meetups—that won’t disappear by merely downvoting them.)
Thanks for linking to the context! In fairness, though, if people are citing RationalWiki as proof that LessWrong has a “reputation”, then devoting a discussion-level post to it doesn’t strike me as excessive.
(On a related note: I hadn’t read Jade’s comments, but I did after you flagged them as interesting; they struck me as totally devoid of value. Would you mind explaining what you think the valid concern he/she’s expressing is?)
Well, for one thing, Jade appears to be a “she”. But never mind, I’m sure it’ll all work out fine.
Fixed, sorry! (I’m female and that mistake doesn’t bother me at all, but I know it really annoys some people. I’ll be more careful in future.)
I completely agree that characterizing RW as contributing to existential risk is absurd.