Why didn't people (apparently?) understand the metaethics sequence?
Perhaps back up a little. Does the metaethics sequence make sense? As I remember it, a fair bit of it was a long, rambling and esoteric bunch of special pleading - frequently working from premises that I didn't share.
Could you clarify a bit? I'd be curious to hear your ethical views myself, particularly your metaethical views. I was convinced of some things by the Metaethics sequence (it convinced me that despite the is-ought distinction ethics could still exist), but I may have made a mistake so I want to know what you think.
There seems to be a widespread impression that the metaethics sequence was not very successful as an explanation of Eliezer Yudkowsky's views. It even says so on the wiki. And frankly, I'm puzzled by this... hence the "apparently" in this post's title. When I read the metaethics sequence, it seemed to make perfect sense to me. I can think of a couple things that may have made me different from the average OB/LW reader in this regard: