= 27d567bc2d48d9f40e9ccc20ea370b15)
thomblake comments on Easy Predictor Tests - Less Wrong
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
= 783df68a0f980790206b9ea87794c5b6)
Loading…= b715d02e85f7b3b4ae65ca3d3e450868)
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Powered by Reddit
= f037147d6e6c911a85753b9abdedda8d)
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (66)
I make plenty of comments for which I expect negative karma. It's not too hard to shield unpopular views in language that will soften the karma hit, but sometimes it's better to state things plainly.
For a while, I had a rough handle on how various factors influenced the karma of a comment (like a link to a previous Lw post, or a relevant XKCD) but never crunched any numbers.
My intuition is that if you are about to make a comment for which you expect negative karma, nearly all of the time you should instead choose one of: a) send the comment in a private communication b) expand your comment with a more clear explanation of where you're coming from c) make your comment into a top-level post (or posts if the idea needs introduction) complete with your arguments and reasoning for all to learn from without the miscommunication perils of quick comments d) refrain from commenting
Sure, I'd bet there are exceptions, but making plenty of comments for which you expect negative karma? Strikes me as off. Pros: you can comment faster and more often since you don't need to thoroughly explain yourself, and since you don't need to prune as many threads. Cons: negative karma presumably means readers would rather have not read what you wrote, which is a bad sign unless maybe it's a topic that you feel will actually improve their lives even without sufficient explanation, even when after reading it they decide they wish they hadn't.
That last bit? Sure, maybe it happens, sometimes... maybe.
Not necessarily. You can, for example, make comments that you expect to improve the lives of a majority despite the displeasure of a majority.
You are not well-calibrated.
I've been mulling over asking for a data set of posts to do some stats on. I've noticed that short pithy statements can get a lot of karma, and would like to see some stats of karma vs comment length.
I suspect that short, concise posts and long, thought-out ones both get higher karma than ones that fall in between.
I tend to share your philosophy. It is also not too hard to offset karma costs by making a few extra posts.
Interestingly, I am often surprised when posts that I am expecting to be a karma sacrifice turn out not to be. As you suggest, extra time phrasing potentially unpopular views probably makes some difference. Even stating things plainly can be done elegantly.