are we allowed to post anything in this part of the site? (like, could we treat this part like another forum, albeit an intellectually mature forum?) Or do we have to keep things formal? I tend to post a high number of threads, but there don’t seem to be many threads here.
The discussion section does have a fairly low volume of posts, and I personally think that’s a travesty. I’ve seen the attitude expressed more than a few times that newcomers to the site should shut up and lurk more because no one wants to see bad posts, but this seems to go completely against the mission of the site, which is obviously to become “less wrong.” Bad posts can be extremely helpful when their flaws are pointed out and discussed, not only for the poster but for others who might harbor similar mistaken notions.
So I would say forget about being formal. Well-thought out posts are for the main site. I think a rapid-fire, informal format is quite appropriate for the discussion section, provided you actually care about engaging the ideas developed in the sequences and other top-level posts.
Good point there (I think it’s sort of a travesty that people can be hostile to newcomers—it seems to happen on every forum). How to find on a compromise—I don’t know, although I did make a few suggestions.
(I think it’s sort of a travesty that people can be hostile to newcomers—it seems to happen on every forum)
In this case, I don’t think they think they’re being hostile—I’ve seen a lot of talk about how to make the site more accessible to new people. They are, perhaps, trying to preserve the SNR or save the newbie from making obvious mistakes. But as the previous commenter noted, mistakes are a great way to learn.
The discussion section does have a fairly low volume of posts, and I personally think that’s a travesty. I’ve seen the attitude expressed more than a few times that newcomers to the site should shut up and lurk more because no one wants to see bad posts, but this seems to go completely against the mission of the site, which is obviously to become “less wrong.” Bad posts can be extremely helpful when their flaws are pointed out and discussed, not only for the poster but for others who might harbor similar mistaken notions.
So I would say forget about being formal. Well-thought out posts are for the main site. I think a rapid-fire, informal format is quite appropriate for the discussion section, provided you actually care about engaging the ideas developed in the sequences and other top-level posts.
Good point there (I think it’s sort of a travesty that people can be hostile to newcomers—it seems to happen on every forum). How to find on a compromise—I don’t know, although I did make a few suggestions.
In this case, I don’t think they think they’re being hostile—I’ve seen a lot of talk about how to make the site more accessible to new people. They are, perhaps, trying to preserve the SNR or save the newbie from making obvious mistakes. But as the previous commenter noted, mistakes are a great way to learn.