I like this approach of thinking adversarial about it. I’d done the same before signing up for my (eponymous) account here, but arrived at a different conclusion. Completely agree with all of your logic about combining public information to find private information.
I think my conclusion was different as 1) LessWrong is quite focused on long-term stuff, and while my interests or style change as time goes on, my name won’t so this future-proofs it; 2) I don’t expect to post anything particularly controversial (and could also make another account to do so as needed); and 3) I have a pretty common name (although I’d bet that if you searched my name on LinkedIn and played a game of “who would be most likely to be on LessWrong based on their jobs/interest/education”, your odds of picking me would be high :)
Curious to hear how others thought about the username thing?
I like this approach of thinking adversarial about it. I’d done the same before signing up for my (eponymous) account here, but arrived at a different conclusion. Completely agree with all of your logic about combining public information to find private information.
I think my conclusion was different as 1) LessWrong is quite focused on long-term stuff, and while my interests or style change as time goes on, my name won’t so this future-proofs it; 2) I don’t expect to post anything particularly controversial (and could also make another account to do so as needed); and 3) I have a pretty common name (although I’d bet that if you searched my name on LinkedIn and played a game of “who would be most likely to be on LessWrong based on their jobs/interest/education”, your odds of picking me would be high :)
Curious to hear how others thought about the username thing?