LW's image problem: "Rationality" is suspicious

Bongo

Concerning Less Wrong's tagline, consider this plausible reaction of someone looking at LW for the first time:

Cut the crap, nobody cares about rationality in the abstract. Just tell me what view you're trying to push under the guise of presenting it as the only "rational" one.

And here are two real quotes from 2009:

[concerning the ban on SIAI discussion during the first weeks of LW] I think it was so that newcomers wouldn't think that LW are a bunch of fringe technophiles that just want to have their cause associated with rationality.

And in reply:

But that's pretty much what LW is, no? I've long suspected that "rationality," as discussed here, was a bit of a ruse designed to insinuate a (misleading) necessary connection between being rational and supporting transhumanist ideals.

The quoted text speaks for itself really. So therefore I think LW's admins/web designers should seriously consider replacing the rationality tagline with something more savory.

Concerning Less Wrong's tagline, consider this plausible reaction of someone looking at LW for the first time:

Cut the crap, nobody cares about rationality in the abstract. Just tell me what view you're trying to push under the guise of presenting it as the only "rational" one.

And here are two real quotes from 2009:

[concerning the ban on SIAI discussion during the first weeks of LW] I think it was so that newcomers wouldn't think that LW are a bunch of fringe technophiles that just want to have their cause associated with rationality.

And in reply:

But that's pretty much what LW is, no? I've long suspected that "rationality," as discussed here, was a bit of a ruse designed to insinuate a (misleading) necessary connection between being rational and supporting transhumanist ideals.

The quoted text speaks for itself really. So therefore I think LW's admins/web designers should seriously consider replacing the rationality tagline with something more savory.

So therefore I think LW's admins/web designers should seriously consider replacing the rationality tagline

As far as I'm concerned, rationality is what LessWrong is about, and the tagline says exactly that. I'm not interested in reading a Singularity/AI/transhumanism forum, and those exist elsewhere for those who are. I assume that the SIAI and FHI logos have to be there to acknowledge the funding, but if it wasn't for that, I'd rather see them removed.

OTOH, it does in fact have a singularitarian agenda: to create or attract people sufficiently rational to do real work on FAI.

I assume that the SIAI and FHI logos have to be there to acknowledge the funding, but if it wasn't for that, I'd rather see them removed.

Surely better to declare your affiliations and sponsors - rather than hide them - no?

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LW's image problem: "Rationality" is suspicious

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LW's image problem: "Rationality" is suspicious

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