It also alienates me that people here, according to the karma distributions, don't seem to get my point.
I downvoted you. I got your "point". I found it concern-trolling at worst, and irrelevant at best, with a dose of error tossed into the mix.
Oh no, somebody dared to say something without putting a qualifier in the front to make explicit a fact that we all understand, that this is what -they think-. That's why he's writing it, and your protest at the absence of weasel-words is nonsense, a rationalization for your statement, and a blanket refusal to admit to the fact that you might have been wrong.
Your protest at being "alienated" by the fact that people didn't upvote you as much as the person who disagreed with you makes it worse, because you imply you're obligated some level of karma balance with those who disagree with you. I say this, knowing for a fact it may get me downvoted, but I have enough honesty of self not to care: Fuck your entitlement. Grow up, become an adult, and realize that nobody is obligated to upvote you, regardless of what effect it might have on your feelings. That's not what the upvote/downvote system is for, and you're not a victim because half the people, including myself, who read your post felt that Less Wrong could use -less- of the kind of thing you wrote.
Maybe I'm wrong, but my guess is that if someone wrote "Life is neutral; some states are worse than death, and adding new happy people is nice but not important", that person would be called out, and the post would receive a large portion of downvotes. I'm not sure about the downvotes (personally I didn't even downvote the OP), but I think pointing out the somewhat controversial nature of such a blanket statement is definitely a good thing. Would you oppose this as well (similarly aggressively)?
We could talk about whether my view of what's contr...
Cross-posted from my blog here.
One of the greatest successes of mankind over the last few centuries has been the enormous amount of wealth that has been created. Once upon a time virtually everyone lived in grinding poverty; now, thanks to the forces of science, capitalism and total factor productivity, we produce enough to support a much larger population at a much higher standard of living.
EAs being a highly intellectual lot, our preferred form of ritual celebration is charts. The ordained chart for celebrating this triumph of our people is the Declining Share of People Living in Extreme Poverty Chart.
(Source)
However, as a heretic, I think this chart is a mistake. What is so great about reducing the share? We could achieve that by killing all the poor people, but that would not be a good thing! Life is good, and poverty is not death; it is simply better for it to be rich.
As such, I think this is a much better chart. Here we show the world population. Those in extreme poverty are in purple – not red, for their existence is not bad. Those who the wheels of progress have lifted into wealth unbeknownst to our ancestors, on the other hand, are depicted in blue, rising triumphantly.
Long may their rise continue.