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dthunt comments on Self-Congratulatory Rationalism - Less Wrong
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Huh? If the outside view tells you that there's something wrong, then the problem is not with the outside view but with the thing itself. It has nothing to do with labels or inferential distance. The outside-view is a rationalist technique used for viewing a matter you're personally involved in objectively by taking a step back. I'm saying that when you take a step back and look at things objectively, it looks like Less Wrong spends more time and effort on being clever than on being rational.
But now that you've brought it up, I'd also like to add that the habit on Less Wrong to assume that any criticism or disagreement must be because of inferential distance (really just a euphemism for saying the other guy is clueless) is an extremely bad one.
My apologies, I thought you we referring to how people who do not use this site perceive people using the site, which seemed more likely to be what you were trying to communicate than the alternative.
Yes, the site viewed as a machine does not look like a well-designed rational-people-factory to me, either, unless I've missed the part where it's comparing its output to its input to see how it is performing. People do, however, note cognitive biases and what efforts to work against them have produced, from time to time, and there are other signs that seem consistent with a well-intentioned rational-people-factory.
And, no, not every criticism does. I can only speak for myself, and acknowledge that I have a number of times in the past failed to understand what someone was saying and assumed they were being dumb or somewhat crazy as a result. I sincerely doubt that's a unique experience.
http://lesswrong.com/lw/ec2/preventing_discussion_from_being_watered_down_by/, and other articles, I now read, because they are pertinent, and I want to know what sorts of work have been done to figure out how LW is perceived and why.