Meta discussions should be forbidden and censored in comments on threads with a different topic. (How would you feel if you spent an afternoon writing a nice article for LessWrong, only to see that the discussion goes off topic and finishes in a flamewar about something completely unrelated to your article.)
The problem with this rule is that on the same topic is not well defined. Arguably, the appearance of rituals to outsiders was on topic in a thread about rituals performed by some folks in this community.
If you think it’s not, downvote. If you’re not sure enough or think it is, don’t. The community’s opinion will become obvious.
Or were you suggesting a Great Definition Decree from the Benevolent Dictator is necessary? I don’t see why a significant amount of people would follow that definition rather than their own thoughts.
I’m not asking for a decree—I am concerned that Villiam_Bur underestimated the difficulty of creating such guidance. Specifically, I’m doubtful there is any consensus on what is or is not on topic from a particular discussion post.
Would writing “I find LW rituals creepy” be off topic on the Schelling Day post? Or rude for some other reason? Or just fine? I suspect there is no consensus at all, so suggestions otherwise should be met with a bunch of skepticism.
If you think it is off topic, downvote and reply with ‘downvoted for being meta and off-topic’. A consensus among the subset who read and vote on comments will emerge.
The problem with this rule is that on the same topic is not well defined. Arguably, the appearance of rituals to outsiders was on topic in a thread about rituals performed by some folks in this community.
If you think it’s not, downvote. If you’re not sure enough or think it is, don’t. The community’s opinion will become obvious.
Or were you suggesting a Great Definition Decree from the Benevolent Dictator is necessary? I don’t see why a significant amount of people would follow that definition rather than their own thoughts.
I’m not asking for a decree—I am concerned that Villiam_Bur underestimated the difficulty of creating such guidance. Specifically, I’m doubtful there is any consensus on what is or is not on topic from a particular discussion post.
Would writing “I find LW rituals creepy” be off topic on the Schelling Day post? Or rude for some other reason? Or just fine? I suspect there is no consensus at all, so suggestions otherwise should be met with a bunch of skepticism.
If you think it is off topic, downvote and reply with ‘downvoted for being meta and off-topic’. A consensus among the subset who read and vote on comments will emerge.
Thanks. Your point is good, then.