RichardKennaway comments on Less Wrong Polls in Comments - Less Wrong

79 Post author: jimrandomh 19 September 2012 04:19PM

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Comment author: MaoShan 20 September 2012 03:37:24AM *  -2 points [-]

I don't know if it's specifically addressed anywhere in the Terms of Use, but free use of polls can have some very hurtful results; it might be helpful to somewhere post a guide to what type of polls are appropriate and tolerated.

Comment author: RichardKennaway 21 September 2012 08:08:15AM 2 points [-]

"Don't be an asshole" covers it. If you need a guide to tell you that, a guide will not help you.

Comment author: Eugine_Nier 22 September 2012 04:39:57AM 1 point [-]

Could you taboo "asshole"?

Comment author: wedrifid 22 September 2012 06:39:27AM 4 points [-]

Could you taboo "asshole"?

It's fairly taboo already.

Comment author: RichardKennaway 22 September 2012 05:11:27PM 0 points [-]

Could you taboo "asshole"?

Explain how not to be an asshole? Possibly, but I don't think anyone here actually needs an explanation, beyond pointing out that anything you shouldn't say for that reason in an ordinary comment, you shouldn't say in a poll either. The slightly different sort of thing that a poll is doesn't change the standard.

Comment author: Eugine_Nier 23 September 2012 06:13:32PM 0 points [-]

And I was hoping to extract your moral theory from you.

Comment author: RichardKennaway 24 September 2012 07:48:13AM 0 points [-]

I don't see this as anything to do with moral theory. It's pretty much general currency what constitutes being an asshole. I've seen it set out in umpteen comment policies on blogs, which often explicitly summarise it as "don't be an asshole", or even "don't be an asshole -- but you knew that already".

Comment author: Eugine_Nier 24 September 2012 11:22:14PM 0 points [-]

I don't see this as anything to do with moral theory.

I don't understand what you mean here. Is your concept of moral theory only something for thought experiments involving Omega but to abstract to apply to day-to-day life?

Comment author: RichardKennaway 25 September 2012 06:19:54AM *  0 points [-]

No. I mean it in the same sense that we do not need to have a discussion of moral theory in order to agree on what actions we are talking about, when we talk about theft. We don't even need to have a discussion of moral theory to agree that we'd rather people didn't behave that way.

Comment author: RichardKennaway 22 September 2012 10:51:04PM 0 points [-]

shminux has helpfully provided an example of the sort of fake poll that should have no place here.

Comment author: [deleted] 22 September 2012 10:55:08PM 3 points [-]

While I agree with the last part of your sentence, it is still a real poll.

Comment author: wedrifid 23 September 2012 07:31:08AM 2 points [-]

shminux has helpfully provided an example of the sort of fake poll that should have no place here.

And, even more helpfully, provided an example of it already being handled successfully by existing measures. He was downvoted extensively and subjected to extensive social pressure via comments.

Comment author: MaoShan 22 September 2012 03:37:25AM 0 points [-]

That flies in the face of many of the helpful articles I've read here on LessWrong. I would offer to write the "Rationalist's Guide to Not Being an Asshole", but obviously, I'm not qualified.

...because I'm not a good enough Rationalist. ;)