rwallace comments on The 48 Rules of Power; Viable? - Less Wrong

4 Post author: Raw_Power 27 May 2011 01:36AM

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Comment author: virtualAdept 27 May 2011 02:19:17PM 0 points [-]

Do you really think saying less than necessary is good advice? That one seemed intuitively good to me at first glance, but then I thought about it a bit more. If I seek to communicate clearly, I should definitely say as much as necessary.

Otherwise, I heartily agree with you.

Comment author: rwallace 27 May 2011 02:25:35PM 1 point [-]

Well not literally of course, but I consider the useful meaning to be: beware of the intuitive tendency to assume it is necessary to say much, when saying a little would actually suffice. It's a guideline rather than a rule, not always applicable, but often enough to be of value.

Comment author: virtualAdept 27 May 2011 02:37:32PM 1 point [-]

Fair. That's how I took it at first, and why I liked it more then.

Comment author: Raw_Power 27 May 2011 08:00:20PM 0 points [-]

Yeah, but then you end up talking like Roschach, or, less extremely, like Batman. That, in itself, can be felt as very rude by those that talk more openly, especially if their speech methods have a strong aesthetic component besides the bare utility.

Comment author: wedrifid 27 May 2011 08:31:51PM 0 points [-]

Yeah, but then you end up talking like Roschach, or, less extremely, like Batman. That, in itself, can be felt as very rude by those that talk more openly

Or sexy, mysterious and intriguing. ;)

Comment author: [deleted] 27 May 2011 03:49:07PM 0 points [-]

Or in the words of William Strunk Jr., "Omit needless words."