Molybdenumblue comments on What Direct Instruction is - Less Wrong

49 [deleted] 04 September 2011 11:03PM

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Comment author: [deleted] 05 September 2011 06:58:43PM 3 points [-]

You know, it's also possible to learn a totally different lesson here: We should be gentle with people, because they are often much more vulnerable than we assume. I would argue that this lesson is much more generally applicable than "Be more scared of failure."

Comment author: gwern 05 September 2011 07:02:35PM 3 points [-]

It's far easier to get the person with vivid memories of contemplating suicide to be more cautious than to get everyone in general to be more gentle.

Comment author: [deleted] 05 September 2011 07:21:48PM 1 point [-]

Well, that's certainly a good point, but I wasn't talking to everyone in general, either.

Comment author: Owen_Richardson 05 September 2011 07:38:59PM 0 points [-]

Please see "I wasn't contemplating suicide per se". I knew in advance that I would decide to keep fighting, as I always do. It is actually a technique I use to cheer myself up, rather like being underwater, and dipping down just a bit so that you can kick off the ground in order to spring back to the surface.

Comment author: Owen_Richardson 05 September 2011 07:36:04PM 0 points [-]

I certainly know I'm very careful thanks to my own experiences to avoid causing unnecessary pain to others, and in fact to try very hard to make people happier.

But I am not fragile. I hurt, but I never break.

I thanked people for their harsh criticism, remember.