handoflixue comments on Help Fund Lukeprog at SIAI - Less Wrong

40 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 24 August 2011 07:16AM

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Comment author: JGWeissman 24 August 2011 05:39:35PM 10 points [-]

But there aren't causes associated with the site.

That is simply false. LW was created by SIAI with the purpose of generating rationalists interested in reducing existential risks, and accepting and even encouraging that it might produce rationalists interested in other causes.

In the early days, we specifically avoided talking about SIAI, FAI, and existential risks because we didn't want shiny discussions about those topics to overwhelm our work on rationality. Now that we are more established, we no longer do that. From the beginning, that policy was meant to be temporary.

We need to be promoting articles that say why the SIAI is doing good work, and discussing the rationality behind supporting it.

False dichotomy. We have had lots of discussions about the effectiveness of SIAI. We can also have announcements of when they have a project that needs funding. There are people here who are already convinced SIAI is an effective charity worth supporting, but need some encouragement to actually support it. That is why this kind of announcement is important.

Comment author: RobertLumley 24 August 2011 05:44:12PM 12 points [-]

That is simply false.

You're right. That was a horribly crafted sentence, in many ways. They are clearly associated. But the site is about rationality, not the SIAI. That was my point. (The statement is also patently false if you take "rationality" as a cause, which is entirely reasonable.)

False dichotomy. We have had lots of discussions about the effectiveness of SIAI. We can also have announcements of when they have a project that needs funding. There are people here who are already convinced SIAI is an effective charity worth supporting, but need some encouragement to actually support it. That is why this kind of announcement is important.

Sure. But that doesn't mean it needs to be in Main and promoted...

From About Less Wrong

Once you have 20 or more karma points, you're allowed to make posts to the main community blog. (Click 'Create New Article' and change 'Post to' to 'Less Wrong'.) This section is intended for posts about rationality theory or practice that display well-edited writing, careful argument, and new material.

Comment author: JGWeissman 24 August 2011 06:01:13PM 1 point [-]

Sure. But that doesn't mean it needs to be in Main and promoted...

From About Less Wrong

Once you have 20 or more karma points, you're allowed to make posts to the main community blog. (Click 'Create New Article' and change 'Post to' to 'Less Wrong'.) This section is intended for posts about rationality theory or practice that display well-edited writing, careful argument, and new material.

That is in the context of telling people new to the site what sort of article they should write if they want to publish in main, and it describes the primary usage, but it is not comprehensive. The actual use of the Main section does include this sort of announcement. It is normal, generally accepted by the community, and has been going on since LW split into Main and Discussion sections.

In general you will find that the actual use of many things in life does not match up with original intentions or simplified descriptions.

Comment author: RobertLumley 24 August 2011 06:25:58PM *  3 points [-]

It is normal, generally accepted by the community

Judging by the upvotes of my original comment, there is not as much unity on that point as you seem to believe.

And frankly, the context doesn't matter. If posts like these are acceptable, than that statement is patently false, and should be changed. If it is not false, then posts like this are inappropriate on main. But with as clear as that statement is, there is no room for consistency between it and a post like this being in main.

In general you will find that the actual use of many things in life does not match up with original intentions or simplified descriptions.

That's an incredibly patronizing tone to take, and I don't appreciate it.

But putting that aside, this is largely irrelevant statement (And its irrelevance only serves to highlight the insult). I don't disagree. But what bearing does that have on what should be? Should we attempt to describe what types of posts are acceptable in main accurately, or should we not? There may be arguments on both sides. But that's not one of them.

Comment author: Vladimir_Nesov 24 August 2011 08:47:35PM 7 points [-]

If posts like these are acceptable, than that statement is patently false, and should be changed. If it is not false, then posts like this are inappropriate on main.

What does the description "is acceptable" refer to? Acceptable by what criterion? The real question is whether things like this should be encouraged or discouraged, using whatever methods are at our disposal, including establishing a policy for moving "off-topic" posts out of Main. Instead, you seem to be appealing to an existing social attitude, which shouldn't be a major factor, as it too can be influenced by good arguments and other means.

Comment author: RobertLumley 24 August 2011 10:23:53PM 2 points [-]

Fair point. I had already expressed that I thought they should be separate, though, and was looking for other places that similar opinions had been expressed.

Comment author: Vladimir_Nesov 24 August 2011 10:26:44PM 1 point [-]

Whether these opinions are right vs. whether they are popular.