An outline of an ironic LessWrong post

[Yitz]

1. Introduction: A character is considering whether or not to join the community of LessWrong, an online rationality-focused group.

2. The pros and cons of joining LessWrong: On the one hand, the character will gain access to a wealth of knowledge and resources on how to think more rationally. On the other hand, the character will likely be bombarded with a never-ending stream of articles, posts, and comments that are all written with a level of irony that leaves the character questioning their own sanity.

3. The decision: In the end, the character decides that the benefits of joining LessWrong outweigh the costs, and joins despite knowing full well that they’ll probably be driven insane by all the irony eventually. After all, if the character is already questioning their sanity, there’s no point in not joining LessWrong and seeing where that leads.

4. The twist ending: The character is so consumed by irony that they end up making a post about their experience on LessWrong.

4.5 The twist to the twist: The character’s post was actually an ironic commentary on ironic commentary.

[Yitz]

4.75 The alternative twist ending: LOL JK the character actually decides not to join and saves their sanity, because they’re smart enough to see the irony in the irony.

[Yitz]

My thought process writing this:

1. I want to write an ironic LessWrong post, but I’m worried that it will be interpreted as a sincere essay instead of a humorous one.

2. The pros and cons of writing an ironic essay: On the one hand, many people on LessWrong like irony and are likely to appreciate an ironic post. On the other hand, if my essay is misinterpreted as a sincere one, this may confuse and/​or offend the reader.

3. The decision: In the end, I decide that the benefits of writing an ironic essay outweigh the costs, and I write the essay as a humorous meta-commentary on the prevalence of irony on LessWrong.

[Lyonette]

Hi friend, I still don’t understand this post even after drawing a diagram—could you cut through the layers for me?

[Yitz]

You actually drew a diagram? Would you mind sharing it?

I promise I will explain what’s going on here, and will send you the link when I do (as well as edit the above article with a link to the explanation). For now, I’m sorry for leaving you confused!