= 27d567bc2d48d9f40e9ccc20ea370b15)
Gray comments on death-is-bad-ism going a little bit more mainstream? - 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 (32)
I've put in a couple of replies into this text box, and deleted them because I realized I was responding defensively. (Although it's clear to me that "the answer is obvious" is a rather underhanded way of calling me an idiot.)
But you're right I'm new here. The most charitable interpretation of the response I received is that the standard of discourse on this site is that I shouldn't discuss any topic until I have familiarized myself with the literature on that topic. I know that most of the discourse that I've seen so far on this site doesn't live up to this standard, and I think the character of my response has more to do with the subject matter ("cryonics") than the standard of my discourse.
That said, on reflection, I think this standard is a laudable thing. I know that scholarship is considered a virtue on this site. If some of the discussion on this site doesn't meet this standard, this doesn't excuse lowering the standard. Seeing people discuss a topic on this site that I'm not familiar with (even if I'm not particularly interested in cryonics) is a great excuse to learn something about that topic, if only to earn the right to partake in that discussion.
This is still coming across as kind of defensive. Logically extrapolating from your assertion that most of the discourse on this site doesn't live up to the standard, it doesn't follow that cryonics should not be given a privileged status, e.g. as one of perhaps a select few topics where we insist on holding oneself to an ultra-high standard of discourse. Why would it be a less charitable interpretation to claim that gwern cares more about asking smart questions on cryonics than on most other topics discussed on this site? It's not like most topics have a direct bearing on the survival of billions. Is there something about cryonics that makes you think Harry Potter fanfiction deserves equal standards?
I'm not saying scholarship isn't laudable in all forms, but surely it's okay to have priorities.