Memetic "basilisk" issue: this subthread may be important:
It is like rationality is a parasite that is hijacking you and turns you into a consequentialist that maximizes only rational conduct.
This (combined with such as Roko's meltdown, as Nisan notes above) appears to be evidence of the possibility of LessWrong rationalism as memetic basilisk. (Thus suggesting the "basilisks" so far, e.g. the forbidden post, may have whatever's problematic in the LW memeplex as prerequisite, which is ... disconcerting.) As muflax notes:
It's just that adding powerful cognitive tools to a not-too-sane mind has a lot of nasty side-effects.
What's a proper approach to use with those who literally can't handle that much truth?
Well, that question is hardly unique to this forum.
My own preferred tactic depends on whether I consider someone capable of making an informed decision about what they are willing to try to handle -- that is, they have enough information, and they are capable of making such judgments, and they aren't massively distracted.
If I do, I tell them that there's something I'm reluctant to tell them, because I'm concerned that it will leave them worse off than my silence, but I'm leaving the choice up to them.
If not, then I keep quiet.
In a public forum, though, that tactic is unavailable.
So after reading SarahC's latest post I noticed that she's gotten a lot out of rationality.
More importantly, she got different things out of it than I have.
Off the top of my head, I've learned...
Where she got...
I've only recently making a habit out of trying new things, and that's been going really well for me. Is there other low hanging fruit that I'm missing?
What cool/important/useful things has rationality gotten you?