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Emile comments on Review: Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids - Less Wrong
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I don't know if there is enough evidence, looking up what evidence exists requires significant work, and making up my mind without doing that would be irresponsible.
I strongly object to throwing around "it's obvious that" lightly, except when you really expect everybody to agree that yes, it is obvious (which includes pretty much nothing in discussions of macroeconomics, technical progress, and history). Otherwise it just comes off as an attempt to make people who disagree look stupid.
I respect your emphasis on trying to avoid hyperbole, but there's got to be some room for speaking loosely (even in the hyper-vigilant Less Wrong community). And notice I prefaced that sentence with "I'd say that" which I think is a pretty good indication that it was more of an opinion than a bold assertion of fact. I haven't made up my mind about anything, but I can have strong opinions about an issue without getting a degree in the relevant field.
If you disagreed with me, why not skip the reprimand, and instead shame me (and enlighten me) by offering a strong counter-argument to my perspective?
The reprimands and downvotes mean that people don't think what you've written is useful. It doesn't matter whether you're giving your opinion or asserting a fact. Either way, you're expected to support your claims, because Less Wrong is all about that. *
* Except somewhat in the Discussion subsite, where sociability and the fun of conversation itself are given more weight.