Consider giving an explanation for your deletion this time around. "Harry Yudkowsky and the Methods of Postrationality: Chapter One: Em Dashes Colons and Ellipses, Littérateurs Go Wild"

Will_Newsome

My stupid fanfic chapter was banned without explanation so I reposted it; somehow it was at +7 when it was deleted and I think silently deleting upvoted posts is a disservice to LessWrong. I requested that a justification be given in the comments if it were to be deleted again, so LessWrong readers could consider whether or not that justification is aligned with what they want from LessWrong. Also I would like to make clear that this fanfic is primarily a medium for explaining some ideas that people on LessWrong often ask me about; that it is also a lighthearted critique of Yudkowskyanism is secondary, and if need be I will change the premise so that the medium doesn't drown out the message. But really, I wouldn't think a lighthearted parody of a lighthearted parody would cause such offense.

The original post has been unbanned and can be found here, so I've edited this post to just be about the banning.

Oh, OK. Then I did not clearly communicate.

I'm not worried about a clutish appearance -- I'm worried about a self-absorbed appearance. People who-have-heard-of-but-are-not-really-into LessWrong, in my conversations with them, have dismissed the site as an echo-chamber of inside references. That's what I'm worried about, and a self-parody story about Eliezer-Yudkowsky's fictional creation interacting with him does not help mitigate that impression. I'm not saying it could never be done, but it has to be really good to outweigh the costs.

I'm not worried about a clutish appearance -- I'm worried about a self-absorbed appearance.

What could possibly appear more self-absorbed than censoring without comment, recourse, or discussion, for the purpose of promoting a certain image?

Or do you possibly take seriously the idea that you can censor your way to an excellent reputation among those who love the truth?

3MathiasZaman12y

From my anecdotal evidence, it seems that this impression goes away after "real life" interactions with Less Wrongers. There seems to be a (perceived?) discrepancy between the lesswrong.com community and the aspiring rationalist community attached to the site.

4[anonymous]12y

In my experience, this is one of the most common patterns of dismissal out there. It's also one of the easiest to dismiss: every intellectual movement will contain communications among insiders, and those communications will use terms that outsiders won't be familiar with. "Wow, you mean people write for their audience? What a surprise!" Or: "Every field has inside references." And then list examples from whichever mathematical or scientific field you're most familiar with. Now, whether or not this is a desirable pattern to fall into is another issue entirely.