I think the discussion has gone off the rails here by arguing about the content of your opinions. It's almost certainly the signaling properties rather than the content that caused the initial downvotes. I predict that you're perfectly capable of writing a well-received animal-rights post here, and that this would perhaps get a few people to change to vegetarianism. (Contra Eliezer, you could even begin such a post by stating that eating meat goes against the proper extrapolation of our rationalist values, and still get upvoted.)
What you did here (from my perspective) was to overtly signal your moral superiority to the rest of us, in a context that wasn't devoted to this discussion. That behavior is characteristically downvoted to oblivion here (with a few exceptions- occasionally someone manages to do this wittily or trigger the right applause light; we're still human!).
I approve of this group norm- it leads to discussions with more substance than signaling. I hope you understand that we don't mean any disrespect to your ideas (well, most of us don't), and we'd be open to hearing your case on the issue.
For the record, here's what I originally commented on David's wall. My comment here on LW was an excerpt from that comment:
Remember when Eliezer Yudkowsky claimed on that website [LW] that frogs are not subjects of moral concern? What ought one to think of a community that intends to be "less wrong" and yet succumbs to such obvious forms of anthropocentric bias?
(I ask this as a big fan of LW, and as someone puzzled by the fact that this community is composed of individuals who are abnormally intelligent and truth-oriented.)
There's a Less Wrong meetup at my house in Berkeley this Saturday, the 25th of December, at 6PM. Celebrate the winter season, the Solstice, and the birth of Sir Isaac Newton among friendly aspiring rationalists, including Eliezer and other SIAI staff and volunteers.
I will cook for everyone in the style I call "paleolithic gourmet" which is cooked meat and raw produce.
I'd like to satisfy everyone's preferences as reasonably as I possibly can without getting vastly more food than will be eaten.
Default menu:
Steak
Lamb Burgers
Bacon
Salad of Berkeley Bowl produce and parmesan
Grilled Portabello and chanterelle mushrooms
Cheese selection
Pita + hummus
Cookies
Feel free to bring a potluck dessert or if you like, an alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage.
The food is free, but if you can afford to, in the spirit of Newtonmas, I suggest a $10 or $15 or $500 donation to SIAI (which will be matched). Please don't not come because you prefer not to pay; no one will be excluded from food or shunned for not paying. I really mean that. Consider the donation not an admission fee and more of a gentle nudge and reminder that optimal philanthropy starts around $10 and that you should positively associate giving money with the fuzzies of eating delicious food.
Please post here if you plan on attending and RSVP on Facebook. You can also post here or PM me with your thoughts on the menu and tell me what you want to eat the most of. I wasn't planning on cooking fish or chicken but can do so if people let me know they want fish or chicken or something else (like a carbohydrate).
My address is 1622 Martin Luther King Jr Way Apt A, Berkeley CA. It's the ground floor apartment around the side, not the upstairs one.