I do have the impression that contrarian ideas are accepted and lauded if and only if they're presented with the reasoning standards of the community.
Yes, LW does have reasoning standards. That's part of what being refining the art of human rationality is about.
LW does strike me as biased in some respects
What do you mean with "biased"? That LW is different than mainstream society in the ideas it values?
Do you think it's a bias to treat badly reasoned post which might result in people dying the differently than harmless badly reasoned posts?
Obviously it has reasoning standards. They are much higher than the average person might expect, because that's one of the goals of the community.
Bias was an poor word to use, and I retract my use of the term. I mean that as a relatively new participant, there are ideas that seem far-fetched because I have not examined the arguments for them. I admit that this is nothing more than my visceral reaction. Until I examine each issue thoroughly, I won't be able to say anything but "that viscerally strikes me as biased." Cryonics, for instance, ...
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.
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