Said, I hope take comment below as positive, because that is how I mean it. I am trying to honestly communicate my own experience, not pass judgment. This is 100% sincere and unironic.
Said, I have seen a lot of your comments on LW, on my posts and the posts of others. They are, by my standards, high on criticism and low on niceness. I personally formed an impression of you as disagreeable. Even though I have argued myself that LW should optimize for honesty over niceness, still the impression of you disagreeableness was colored negatively in my mind.
But now that you’ve stated that you’re disagreeable on purpose, the negative effect flipped entirely to become positive. Instead of you being disagreeable by accident, it’s intentional. I like diversity, and I support people who are on a mission to bring a new flavor to the community. Knowing this also makes it easier to take criticism from you—it’s not that you hate me or what I write, it’s just that you don’t care if someone thinks you hate them and their writing. The Bayesian update in the two cases is very different!
This isn’t to say that Kaj is wrong in being more cautious, or that you are wrong in not being cautious. Do your own thing, and own it.
Thank you for the kind words. Your characterization of my attitude is also accurate, which I appreciate.
The one quibble I would make—and it really is a quibble—is with this bit:
it’s not that you hate me or what I write, it’s just that you don’t care if someone thinks you hate them and their writing
Well, I don’t want anyone[1] to think that I hate them. Certainly, if someone comes away from my comments with the impression that I have a personal dislike of them, that is regrettable. Where possible, I try to correct any such mistaken impression. I certainly don’t deliberately try to make anyone think I hate them; that would be silly and without purpose.
It’s just that this is not regrettable enough to take any costly[2] pre-emptive steps to avoid (a necessity for such steps being a practical disincentive to contribution), or—critically—to sacrifice honesty, clarity, etc., to the goal of avoiding such an impression.
That aside, I find little to disagree in what you say.
[1] With some exceptions, I suppose? At least, in principle. In any case, I don’t, to my knowledge, hate anyone who posts on Less Wrong.
[2] Non-costly steps being such things as “avoid gratuitous insults”, “don’t use ad personam arguments”, “avoid foul language”, etc.
Said, I hope take comment below as positive, because that is how I mean it. I am trying to honestly communicate my own experience, not pass judgment. This is 100% sincere and unironic.
Said, I have seen a lot of your comments on LW, on my posts and the posts of others. They are, by my standards, high on criticism and low on niceness. I personally formed an impression of you as disagreeable. Even though I have argued myself that LW should optimize for honesty over niceness, still the impression of you disagreeableness was colored negatively in my mind.
But now that you’ve stated that you’re disagreeable on purpose, the negative effect flipped entirely to become positive. Instead of you being disagreeable by accident, it’s intentional. I like diversity, and I support people who are on a mission to bring a new flavor to the community. Knowing this also makes it easier to take criticism from you—it’s not that you hate me or what I write, it’s just that you don’t care if someone thinks you hate them and their writing. The Bayesian update in the two cases is very different!
This isn’t to say that Kaj is wrong in being more cautious, or that you are wrong in not being cautious. Do your own thing, and own it.
Thank you for the kind words. Your characterization of my attitude is also accurate, which I appreciate.
The one quibble I would make—and it really is a quibble—is with this bit:
Well, I don’t want anyone[1] to think that I hate them. Certainly, if someone comes away from my comments with the impression that I have a personal dislike of them, that is regrettable. Where possible, I try to correct any such mistaken impression. I certainly don’t deliberately try to make anyone think I hate them; that would be silly and without purpose.
It’s just that this is not regrettable enough to take any costly[2] pre-emptive steps to avoid (a necessity for such steps being a practical disincentive to contribution), or—critically—to sacrifice honesty, clarity, etc., to the goal of avoiding such an impression.
That aside, I find little to disagree in what you say.
[1] With some exceptions, I suppose? At least, in principle. In any case, I don’t, to my knowledge, hate anyone who posts on Less Wrong.
[2] Non-costly steps being such things as “avoid gratuitous insults”, “don’t use ad personam arguments”, “avoid foul language”, etc.