taw comments on Not By Empathy Alone - Less Wrong

19 Post author: gwern 05 October 2011 12:36AM

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Comment author: taw 16 October 2011 03:10:53AM 1 point [-]

This is a common issue with lesswrong posts. A good way to write a post would be:

  • what the post is about
  • primary argument
  • various details and secondary arguments
  • summary
  • references

Or even better, since brevity is a virtue:

  • what the post is about
  • primary argument

This post contains a lot of words and a lot of minor nitpicks about imperfections of empathy (versus which alternative exactly) but I don't see any primary points? Posts about morality are especially prone to this, since every basis of morality including varieties of utilitarianism have some severe problems, so saying that empathy has them too means nothing.