A third comment, because it’s a third unrelated topic:
The quantity of downvotes suggests that you have developed an anti-fan club here. You’d expect to encounter resistance if you are saying true and important things that make people uncomfortable. But having a devoted club of detractors might be a sign that you could think about your messaging strategy. What if you could say true and important things in a way that doesn’t make people so uncomfortable that they refuse to think about them?
LessWrongers love epistemic humbleness and wriiting meant to inform rather than persuade.
As I said in my other comment, I think the downvotes are uncalled for and emotionally motivated. But perhaps this is a hint to what tone would reach past those barriers and actually change more minds?
A couple specific thoughts, even though I haven’t thought about this much:
In this piece, the claim that even a selfishly motivated person might benefit by taking the pledge is very interesting. More evidence and argument on this point might be useful.
Your presentation is already oriented around the opportunity (positive-valenced) rather than the obligation (negative-valenced and therefore unpleasant to think about) of doing good. The descriptions of tragedy and suffering are definitely negative-valenced.
The statements “I think you should too” may offer the reader an excuse to take offense. “Should” is a very vague term and usually connected to an unstated value judgment. Here you may mean “if you did this it would improve the situation by your own current value judgment”, the least suspicious use of “should”.
In my experience, changing minds requires gently presenting arguments in a way that does not provide too much impetus or excuse for the listener to avoid thinking about them, walking away, and hoping that the person convinces themselves. This post on how to actually change minds definitely rang true to me:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/D2GrrrrfipHWPJSHh/book-review-how-minds-change
Anyway those are just some random thoughts; do with them what you will.
A third comment, because it’s a third unrelated topic:
The quantity of downvotes suggests that you have developed an anti-fan club here. You’d expect to encounter resistance if you are saying true and important things that make people uncomfortable. But having a devoted club of detractors might be a sign that you could think about your messaging strategy. What if you could say true and important things in a way that doesn’t make people so uncomfortable that they refuse to think about them?
LessWrongers love epistemic humbleness and wriiting meant to inform rather than persuade.
As I said in my other comment, I think the downvotes are uncalled for and emotionally motivated. But perhaps this is a hint to what tone would reach past those barriers and actually change more minds?
A couple specific thoughts, even though I haven’t thought about this much:
In this piece, the claim that even a selfishly motivated person might benefit by taking the pledge is very interesting. More evidence and argument on this point might be useful.
Your presentation is already oriented around the opportunity (positive-valenced) rather than the obligation (negative-valenced and therefore unpleasant to think about) of doing good. The descriptions of tragedy and suffering are definitely negative-valenced.
The statements “I think you should too” may offer the reader an excuse to take offense. “Should” is a very vague term and usually connected to an unstated value judgment. Here you may mean “if you did this it would improve the situation by your own current value judgment”, the least suspicious use of “should”.
In my experience, changing minds requires gently presenting arguments in a way that does not provide too much impetus or excuse for the listener to avoid thinking about them, walking away, and hoping that the person convinces themselves. This post on how to actually change minds definitely rang true to me: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/D2GrrrrfipHWPJSHh/book-review-how-minds-change
Anyway those are just some random thoughts; do with them what you will.