cousin_it comments on Being saner about gender and rationality - Less Wrong

14 [deleted] 20 July 2009 07:17AM

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Comment author: cousin_it 20 July 2009 08:53:11AM 1 point [-]

I agree with your assessment of the problem and would also like to help. If Alicorn succeeds in forming a mod clique, the site will be much worse off. But we mustn't form cliques of our own to counter, because that would lead to the same outcome. Tragedy of the commons.

Comment deleted 20 July 2009 09:03:41AM *  [-]
Comment author: orthonormal 20 July 2009 06:05:27PM 4 points [-]

Honestly, I don't see what good would come of disguising your identity, from anyone's perspective. I urge you to look for other alternatives if you're worried about clique formation.

Also, how hard do you think it would be for the other regulars to spot you under a new name?

Comment deleted 21 July 2009 01:26:19AM [-]
Comment author: orthonormal 21 July 2009 01:41:16AM 2 points [-]

On this particular issue, I just made a few suggestions. I just don't see how having the same opinions under new names would help the state of the discourse, and we'd lose the ability to connect your ideas to their full context if you change names on us.

Comment author: Raka 20 July 2009 12:36:42PM 3 points [-]

Hi, I'm a new user who just discovered Less Wrong. I just wanted to post and say how excited I am to join this amazing and unfamiliar community!

Comment author: AndyWood 20 July 2009 07:23:59PM 9 points [-]

I sit in absolute awe of the epic lack of sense of humor in the replies to this.

Comment author: RobinZ 20 July 2009 07:55:22PM 0 points [-]

...!

*laughs*

Comment author: RichardKennaway 20 July 2009 02:34:25PM *  0 points [-]

Some possible interpretations of Raka's comment:

  1. Raka is Roko, and is lying.

  2. Raka is some other established reader of LW, and is lying.

  3. Raka is a bystander who has been recruited by a regular to join and post that comment.

  4. Raka is a new user who just discovered Less Wrong, and just wanted to post and say how excited they are to join, and just happened to choose a username very like Roko's, and post at a point in the discussion where questions of identity had been raised.

I can't decide between the first three, but the least credible hypothesis is 4.

Please don't piss in the soup Raka, whoever you are.

ETA: As it happens, I have used the name "Raak" elsewhere on the web for many years, but I am not Roko or Raka, and have never posted and never will post here by any name but my everyday one.

Comment author: ciphergoth 20 July 2009 05:29:31PM 6 points [-]

I'm pretty sure it's

  • Raka is some other established reader of LW, and is making a point

though I'm not sure I know exactly what the point is - perhaps that Roko is unlikely to succeed in their disguise, or that we're going to start thinking every newcomer is Roko if this sort of thing goes on.

Comment author: JulianMorrison 20 July 2009 02:44:21PM 0 points [-]

The most credible is 1. Placement, Hamming distance, a publicly stated intent to do as much, and a wierdly content-free intro message.

I don't see what Roko gains from this.

Comment author: Nick_Tarleton 20 July 2009 05:31:26PM 5 points [-]

I really don't think he would fail that badly at disguise.

Comment author: bogus 20 July 2009 02:58:25PM 1 point [-]

Hi, Raka, and welcome to Less Wrong!

I can tell you've been lurking for a while and have a well-developed sense of humor. These are well-appreciated qualities in our community, but do not overdo it: being overly trollish is discouraged here. Have fun!

Comment author: yeynfv 20 July 2009 08:18:47PM 1 point [-]

Is account deletion supposed to delete your old posts? Why do you want that?

Comment author: yeynfv 20 July 2009 08:18:53PM *  0 points [-]

I can't delete my account, either.

Comment author: brian_jaress 20 July 2009 08:15:43PM 1 point [-]

the account deletion feature isn't working.

You could remove your email address and reset the password to something [randomly generated][]. Just paste it in without saving a copy.

That should also give you a chance to write a message confirming you've done it before you log off.

Comment author: Jonathan_Graehl 21 July 2009 06:21:50AM 0 points [-]

That seems like an overreaction, and sets a messy precedent as well. I agree with your analysis, except I don't think the situation is as frightening as you do.

Both her post and your reaction to it, while of reasonable quality, are exactly the type of useless meta-discussion that I'd encourage everyone to vote down at least to the extent necessary to keep it off the front page.