And since I’m posting this here, an intention of course is to invite commentary on the rationality of all of the above thinking.
I don’t think it’s very rational. I mean, sure, you deserve some credit for noting that people shouldn’t do X, that some will do it anyway, and then trying to work out a second-best solution that exploits the fact that people do X.
But if you were really trying to solve the general problem “What are some good ways to divert gaming energy to rationalist energy?” then you should have focused much more on the poker example, or on AlexMennen’s advertising idea, or on brainstorming for other ideas. Instead, you spend a lot of effort thinking about (and encouraging others to think about) the sub-problem of how to make a Less Wrong or SIAI clan in an MMO with the right incentives, even though you seem to acknowledge that this subproblem is much more difficult than the problem it’s meant to help solve.
Without meaning to offend you or to accuse you of having had ‘bad’ motives on purpose, I invite you to consider the possibility that you have optimized for the solution to a different problem: “How do I justify my interest in MMOs so that I feel less badly about playing them?”
I was kinda hoping someone would mention that interpretation of my motives. Yes, part of this certainly is that on a level I’d like to find a justification for playing MMOs a lot.
You recommend me to focus more on e.g. the poker stuff, and I am actually doing that. Sooner or later I’ll probably post about a suggestion for a Less Wrong Poker Group, but before I do, I want to develop my framework for introducing new people to poker a bit, and work on some other stuff having to do with poker.
Despite all this, I do maintain that there is a valid problem which this posting of mine addressed directly, even though it’s one of the less important problems around these parts. I don’t feel that I spent too much effort on this article (on the contrary, going ahead with my first draft might have been a mistake), or limited other people’s ability to take the most productive approaches.
Sure, that’s right—you haven’t actually stopped people from being productive. There probably is an opportunity cost, though. Perhaps people who saw a more-appropriately-focused article would have written more appropriately focused comments. Good luck with the poker group!
I don’t think it’s very rational. I mean, sure, you deserve some credit for noting that people shouldn’t do X, that some will do it anyway, and then trying to work out a second-best solution that exploits the fact that people do X.
But if you were really trying to solve the general problem “What are some good ways to divert gaming energy to rationalist energy?” then you should have focused much more on the poker example, or on AlexMennen’s advertising idea, or on brainstorming for other ideas. Instead, you spend a lot of effort thinking about (and encouraging others to think about) the sub-problem of how to make a Less Wrong or SIAI clan in an MMO with the right incentives, even though you seem to acknowledge that this subproblem is much more difficult than the problem it’s meant to help solve.
Without meaning to offend you or to accuse you of having had ‘bad’ motives on purpose, I invite you to consider the possibility that you have optimized for the solution to a different problem: “How do I justify my interest in MMOs so that I feel less badly about playing them?”
I was kinda hoping someone would mention that interpretation of my motives. Yes, part of this certainly is that on a level I’d like to find a justification for playing MMOs a lot.
You recommend me to focus more on e.g. the poker stuff, and I am actually doing that. Sooner or later I’ll probably post about a suggestion for a Less Wrong Poker Group, but before I do, I want to develop my framework for introducing new people to poker a bit, and work on some other stuff having to do with poker.
Despite all this, I do maintain that there is a valid problem which this posting of mine addressed directly, even though it’s one of the less important problems around these parts. I don’t feel that I spent too much effort on this article (on the contrary, going ahead with my first draft might have been a mistake), or limited other people’s ability to take the most productive approaches.
Sure, that’s right—you haven’t actually stopped people from being productive. There probably is an opportunity cost, though. Perhaps people who saw a more-appropriately-focused article would have written more appropriately focused comments. Good luck with the poker group!