= 27d567bc2d48d9f40e9ccc20ea370b15)
shminux comments on Thoughts on the Singularity Institute (SI) - Less Wrong
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
= 783df68a0f980790206b9ea87794c5b6)
Loading…= b715d02e85f7b3b4ae65ca3d3e450868)
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Powered by Reddit
= f037147d6e6c911a85753b9abdedda8d)
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (1270)
Having been a subject of both a relatively large upvote and a relatively large downvote in the last couple of weeks, I still think that the worst thing one can do is to complain about censorship or karma. The posts and comments on any forum aren't judged on their "objective merits" (because there is no such thing), but on its suitability for the forum in question. If you have been downvoted, your post deserves it by definition. You can politely inquire about the reasons, but people are not required to explain themselves. As for rationality, I question whether it is rational to post on a forum if you are not having fun there. Take it easy.
First, you're correct that it's irrational to post to a forum you don't enjoy. I'll work on decreasing my akrasia.
But it's hard not to comment on a non sequitur like the above. (Although probably futile because one who's really not into a persuasion effort won't do it well.) That posts are properly evaluated by suitability to the forum does not imply that a downvoted post deserves the downvote by definition! That's a maladaptive view of the sort I'm amazed is so seldom criticized on this forum. Your view precludes (by definition yet) criticism of the evaluators' biases, which do not advance the forum's purpose. You would eschew not only absolute merits but also any objective consideration of the forum's function.
A forum devoted to rationality, to be effective and honest, must assess and address the irrationalities in its own functioning. (This isn't always "fun.") To define a post that should be upvoted as one that is upvoted constitutes an enormous obstacle to rational function.