What is the source for the Scott Alexander comment you quoted?
I think your comment here epitomizes what I value about your posting. I'm not here to feel good about myself, I want to learn stuff correctly the first time. If I want to be coddled I can go to my therapist.
I also think that there's a belief in personal agency that we share. No one is required to read or comment, and I view even negative comments as a valuable gift of the writer's time and energy.
I wish I could write as sharply and itintelligently as you do. Most people waste too many words not saying anything with any redeeming factor except social signaling. (At least when I waste words i try to make it funny and interesting, which is not much better but intended as sort of an unspoken apology)
Completely omitted my post about Said, and my response to your responses on that post.
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/SQ8BrC5MJ9jo9n83i/said-achmiz-helps-me-learn , cross posted at Data secrets lox.
I'll have to follow his comments elsewhere.
It's the association you note, of empathy = good, that I object to. And anyway you're just measuring social sensitivity, no one who wants to be well liked isn't going to pretend they're super empathetic.
And that's the point. It turns int pretend when it becomes its own goal.
You might be surprised to find that I actually agree with this take. I think that most of what people consider empathy nowadays i a performative thing to make themselves feel good, or to drop responsibility. It doesn't really do me much good if someone sits around feeling bad for me. I don't want them to feel bad either. I have empathy for them.
I don't want my kids to walk round feeling bad for people and thinking that that's some sort of noble actions. I want e them to actually look at what they can do for other people. And how they can help a situation and how, you know, sometimes when... (read more)
I'll attempt to explain the lines that are confusing you.
Hi. I'm a frequent poster on the subreddit and DSL, and wrote a theological critique of Unsong that was well-received on the subreddit. There is one LessWrong poster whose comment history I check when I'm otherwise overwhelmed in real life: Said Achmiz.
Imagine my shock this morning to see “Three Missing Cakes, or One Turbulent Critic?” by Benquo on LessWrong, advocating against the moderators suggesting that banning Said Achmiz would attract a better audience.
Obviously, Said Achmiz is not going to be discouraged by being banned or expelled or getting a B or whatever. Not at all. He will just continue whatever he was doing somewhere else.
That said, it does hurt to be... (read 354 more words →)
I'm probably a very weird person, even if I do live a very standard stay-at-home-mother life. At least in rationalist circles, I seem to use up all my weirdness points just by being a stay-at-home mother, fearing G-d to the point of not spelling it out, and being a biblical literalist. And yet, I'm here.
The real problem is meta-awareness—thinking about yourself too much. If you're focused on others instead of monitoring your own status, it matters less. I wouldn't say I'm the most socially normal person—I lean more, um, socially experimental—but I do care about how other people feel. If someone is genuinely uncomfortable and I can adjust without triggering a motte-and-bailey... (read more)
So epistemic means: confidence of knowing?
https://open.substack.com/pub/ishayirashashem/p/artificial-intelligence-for-dummies?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1hp7xr