you made that comment not because it was substantive or seriously detracted from the post, but because it was an ideological matter with which you disagreed with the author
I generally dislike it when people talk about moral views that way, even if they mention views I support. I might be less inclined to call it out in a case where I intuitively strongly agree, but I still do it some of the time. I agree it wasn't the main point of his post, I never denied that. In fact I wrote that I agree the developments are impressive. By that, I meant the graphs. Since when is it discouraged to point out minor criticism in a post? The fact that I singled out this particular post to make a comment that would maybe fit just as well elsewhere just happens to be a coincidence.
Taking it as an opportunity to try to start an ideological fight is just bad manners.
No one is even talking about arguments or intuition-pumps for or against any of the moral views mentioned. I wasn't "starting an ideological flight", I was making meta remark about the way people present moral views. If anything, I'd be starting an ideological fight about my metaethical views and what I consider to be a productive norm of value-related discourse on this site.
Since when is it discouraged to point out minor criticism in a post?
Again, I wasn't speaking for all of Less Wrong. You'd have to ask the others why they downvoted you, but having committed the major faux pax of complaining about being downvoted, I don't think they'll be as receptive at this point.
I discourage anything that relates to pedantry, downvote whenever somebody is making a point, not because the point needs to be heard, but because they need to be heard. There's some subjectivity to it, of course. But it boils down to "Do I find that t...
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.