GabrielDuquette comments on Rhetoric for the Good - Less Wrong

49 Post author: lukeprog 26 October 2011 06:52PM

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Comment author: [deleted] 27 October 2011 04:11:58PM 0 points [-]

Sure, LW has its own brand of plain talk (two words I'm already sick of reading, and I bet I'm not the only one). And I've spent my entire life dealing with exactly the same kinds of reactions that NancyLebovitz describes. It feels bad to part of a teased minority, but it also feels good to be in that minority because of a particular kind of excellence.

Still, whether empirical knowledge is required or not, speaking/writing more simply will move more people.

Comment author: TheOtherDave 27 October 2011 04:23:40PM 0 points [-]

Picking a register appropriate to my audience will move that audience.

You gots to talk to people in their language.

Comment author: [deleted] 27 October 2011 04:25:20PM -1 points [-]

Wouldn't you call that "preaching to the converted?"

Comment author: TheOtherDave 27 October 2011 06:11:41PM 1 point [-]

I wouldn't, no. If I want to preach to the unconverted pagans, I do best to learn their language first.

Comment author: [deleted] 27 October 2011 07:05:22PM 2 points [-]

Sorry, I had it in mind that you meant one thing when you actually meant another. And you were actually being very clear about your point.