I think what's going on is you're getting annoyed by naive applications of utilitarian reasoning such as Yvain's in the offense thread, then improperly generalizing that annoyance to even sophisticated applications.
On the contrary, it is the "sophisticated" applications that annoy me the most.
I don't think it's reasonable to get annoyed by people's opinions expressed in purely intellectual debates such as those we have here, as long as they are argued politely, honestly, and intelligently. However, out there in the real world, among the people who wield power, influence, and status, there is a great deal of hubristic and pernicious utilitarian ideas, which are dangerous exactly because they have the public image of high status and sophistication. They go u...
I'd like to see book reviews of books of interest to LW. Some suggestions:
ADDED: I don't mean I'd like to see reviews in this thread. I'd like each review to have its own thread. In discussion or on the "new" page is up to you.