mattnewport comments on Forager Anthropology - Less Wrong

11 Post author: WrongBot 28 July 2010 05:48AM

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Comment author: WrongBot 30 July 2010 12:56:37AM 6 points [-]

Is it really so ego-deflating to be told that some of the readers here consider your contributions below the standard for the place that has by far the highest standard for discussion on subjects like human sexuality of any place on the web?

It's not that someone thought my contributions were below LW's standards (though if they are, people voting on posts should really take that into account), it's that someone identified me as a primary force responsible making the site worse without any prompting. It's not that I'm part of a bad trend, according to your friend, it's that I am the trend. If I'm making the site seem worse all by myself, I figure that must mean I'm pretty bad.

In fact, my first impression of you was that you were imposing a heavy cost on the community (namely, lowering the signal-to-noise ratio, writing mainly on one of the topics most likely to overwhelm participants capacity for rationality) so that the community could help you with one of your personal problems or so that the community could help you in your attempt to change your society's sexual mores for deeply-felt personal reasons.

Well, this definitely isn't a personal problem, as I think I've mentioned elsewhere a couple times. And it's not that I want the community to help change sexual mores for personal reasons, either, at least in the sense I think you mean. I just think that many people could have significantly better lives than they otherwise would, if they made more rational and informed decisions on the subject. So I guess, yes, technically that's a deeply-felt personal reason insomuch as I'm some kind of utilitarian. But I'm not privileging polyamory over other topics with more (perceived) instrumental value, I don't think.

Comment author: mattnewport 30 July 2010 01:05:14AM 4 points [-]

It's not that I'm part of a bad trend, according to your friend, it's that I am the trend.

I'd speculate that the reason for this perception (and the reason you are being singled out) is the relatively high posting frequency. You've made 4 posts in just over a month and these posts have also been dominating the recent comments so you have created a mini-trend of your own of sorts.

Comment author: WrongBot 30 July 2010 01:27:09AM 3 points [-]

That sounds like a pretty reasonable explanation. After my first post I was worried about this possibility and asked about it, but I could believe the responses didn't reflect many people's opinions. Or that I've strayed from cousin_it's or JoshuaZ's standards.

I'll probably wait a while before posting the next part of this sequence. I'd been intending to spend more time revising it in any case, but now I have even more reason to do so.

Comment author: JoshuaZ 30 July 2010 01:38:41AM 1 point [-]

Or that I've strayed from cousin_it's or JoshuaZ's standards.

I'm probably not a good standard to use. If I am, note that I have not yet made any top-level posts, in a large part because I'm not sure I have the time and expertise to contribute well-written detailed posts that are of sufficient quality as to be top-level posts.

Comment author: Blueberry 30 July 2010 06:48:21AM 1 point [-]

I'm not sure I have the time and expertise to contribute well-written detailed posts that are of sufficient quality as to be top-level posts.

I think that was the point. I have no problem with WrongBot's posts, and I don't think they are lower quality than most others here. I suspect a lot of the reaction WrongBot is getting from a few people is because he joined and immediately made several posts about controversial topics, and people are wary of newcomers rocking the boat. If someone who had been here longer and seemed more familiar made them, I doubt anyone would have objected.