Just to be charitable to Eliezer, let me remind you of this quote. For example, can you conceive of a reason (not necessarily the officially stated one) that the actual basilisk discussion ought to be suppressed, even at the cost of the damage done to LW credibility (such as it is) by an offsite discussion of such suppression?
Stross claims that it indicates that we're "Calvinist"
I thought this is more akin to Scientology, where any mention of Xenu to the uninitiated ought to be suppressed.
It sucks being Cassandra.
Sure does. Then again, it probably sucks more being Laocoön.
can you conceive of a reason (not necessarily the officially stated one) that the actual basilisk discussion ought to be suppressed, even at the cost of the damage done to LW credibility (such as it is) by an offsite discussion of such suppression?
The basilisk is harmless. Eliezer knows this. The streisand effect was the intended consequence of the censor. The hope is that people who become aware of the basilisk will increase their priors for the existence of real information hazards, and will in the future be less likely to read anything marked as such...
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post, even in Discussion, it goes here.