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ParagonProtege comments on Our Phyg Is Not Exclusive Enough - Less Wrong
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buybuydandavis may not want his username Google'ably related to someone running an organization he considers phygish. Especially if it is a phyg, in which case there's a non-negligible probability of personal risk by openly using the name. If that's the case, then it makes sense that he didn't use the anarchist's name in his post while he was fine with using Rand's. Rot13 helps reduce the chance of risk to (what I see as) negligible levels. If this is the case, then I see the use of rot13 as appropriate.
Admittedly, he could have has a slew of other reasons for not using the name. He could just not want to give the guy the traffic. Or maybe he's not as well known as Rand, and using the name wouldn't be edifying to most readers. Or maybe it wasn't a conscious decision at all. If any of these kind of reasons are the case, then the rot13 was unnecessary.
So I had to make a quick judgment under uncertainty, so I decided to use rot13 because and err on the side of caution. If I was going to make a mistake, I wanted to ensure I'd make the least costly mistake. From my perspective, the extra few seconds per person reading the comment is worth that assurance.
If there's a better standard/heuristic by which to use rot13, or if I have broken any of LW's rules by using it the way I did, please let me know. I'd be happy to correct my behavior. Otherwise, I've explained my reasoning and will politely tap out of the conversation. Other commenters can feel free to up/down vote as they feel appropriate.
Edit: Regarding this, buybuydandavis later commented that
I intentionally didn't use his name because he wasn't the point, he was an example for a point. And I didn't wish to publicly criticize him, or introduce a name that many wouldn't be familiar with.
Perhaps rot13 wasn't necessary by some written/unwritten rules, but I thought the use was appropriate in response to my deliberately leaving his name out of it; I found it both perceptive and courteous.
That's a pretty silly concern. There's 738,000 Google hits for Stefan Molyneux, this thread is never going to crack the top thousand. It won't crack the top million for "cult", rot13 or no. And even if it does, so what? Oh no, a discussion board mentions cults in passing - that's never happened before! If someone is searching specifically for this thread then they'll find it but that's probably a good thing - who is going to be looking for a reason other than a followup argument referencing it? I'm all for Google paranoia, but there are limits in all things.
Rot13 is active interference in the conversation - I'm fine with that if there's reason, like avoiding spoilers, but if there's no reason, then you're being silly and wasting my time. "Phyg" is annoying and poserish, and "Fgrsna Zbylarhk" is just obfuscating information that you're intentionally trying to pass along in an offhand comment(i.e., one that you're supposed to be able to process quickly).
And yes, I knew when I made that post above that I'd be giving him +rep far outweighing my -1, and probably giving myself just as much -rep. Oh well. If karma actually mattered, I might worry about it.
Interesting side note - I apparently live fairly near Molyneux, and got invited by a mutual acquaintance to an event where he will be speaking after I posted this. Suffice it to say, mockery of anarchism followed.