Interesting. Is there a pejorative connotation to being cynical that rationalists know of? Does that just mean they're really critical? Does it mean I'm hyper-critical?! I may be.
It's definitely true that the wine world is swamped with people that excessively favor tradition. It can impede progress or any kind of logical discourse at times.
Is there a pejorative connotation to being cynical that rationalists know of?
I think Eliezer's take on cynicism is spot on.
Dale McGowan writes:
In this spirit, I propose the creation of a fully off-topic discussion thread.
Here is our monthly place to discuss topics entirely unrelated to Less Wrong that (of course) have not appeared in recent posts.
ETA: There are two behaviors I would love to see associated with this thread. First of all, discussions often drift off-topic in the middle of a thread. In these cases "let's take this to the off-topic thread" would be an excellent response. Secondly, given who's doing the discussing, I could easily see, say, a discussion about recent developments in some webcomic blossoming into a LW-worthy insight, in which case someone could spawn a new thread.