I lurked for a long time because I often find that getting involved in discussions blurs my ability to think objectively.

That's definitely true. But there is an advantage to posting. Often, I'll have an idea and start to write it out. But then, I realize that it's not quite up to my internal "less wrong standards." So, I'll start refining the idea, and end up with a much better one than I started with.

Or I'll find out that the idea isn't as good as I thought it was, and end up not posting.