Open Thread: December 2009

CannibalSmith

If, say, I have a basic question, is it appropriate to post it to open thread, to a top level post, or what? ie, say if I'm working through Pearl's Causality and am having trouble deriving something... or say I've stared at the wikipedia pages for ages and STILL don't get the difference between Minimum Description Length and Minimum Message Length... is LW an appropriate place to go "please help me understand this", and if so, should I request it in a top level post or in an open thread or...

More generally: LW is about developing human rationality, but is it appropriate for questions about already solved aspects of rationality? like "please help me understand the math for this aspect of reasoning" or even "I'm currently facing this question in my life or such, help me reason through this please?"

Thanks.

Psy-Kosh16y40

Kaj_Sotala16y20

I think that kind of a question is fine in the Open Thread.

3DanArmak16y

Most posts here are written by someone who understands an aspect of rationality, to explain it to those who don't. I see no reason not to ask questions in the open thread. I think they should be top-level posts only if you anticipate a productive discussion around them; most already-solved questions can be answered with a single comment and that would be that, so no need for a separate post.

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Open Thread: December 2009

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Open Thread: December 2009

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