8.1 KiB
I've made a new subreddit for rationalists to just hang out, /r/LessWrongLounge.
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Author: u/JoshuaBlaine Princess of the Wasteland*
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URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/2c72xz/ive_made_a_new_subreddit_for_rationalists_to_just/
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Score: 8
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Created: 2014-07-31T00:59:24
Post:
The subreddit: /r/LessWrongLounge. From the sidebar:
Less Wrong is explicitly about improving critical thinking skills, and as a consequence has a high standard for comments and posts site-wide.
The Lounge, however, attempts to allow for a more casual participation in the rationalist community. Expected content here include things like sharing personal stories, asking the subreddit questions, sharing links to particularly rational media, organizing community games/events, sharing a new discovery, or otherwise just interacting with other people in a fulfilling way. Everyone is welcome, and most things are allowed, so just say hello!
Watching the posts made in places like /r/HPMOR and here, I think a place like this is useful. /r/rational doesn't only ever talk about stories, so it lends credence to the idea that there should be a place where anything is open to rational discussion.
The kind of people I've met on LessWrong and the other places the rationalist community hang out have been some of the best people I've had the pleasure of meeting, So naturally, I made a dedicated place for meeting them!
If you're familiar with them, comparisons to what /r/MLPLounge is to /r/mylittlepony is on par with my expectations for the subreddit will be compared to Less Wrong itself.
So, will you guys subscribe and stay? Is this something you wanted to exist? Let me know what you think.
P.S. Additional moderation will likely be needed, as I'm an inexperienced mod myself, so anyone with experience moderating who's interested, please let me know.
Comments:
u/None [+8] (10 hours later)
If you're familiar with them, comparisons to what /r/MLPLounge[5] is to /r/mylittlepony[6] is on par with my expectations for the subreddit will be compared to Less Wrong itself.
And thus /r/LessWrongLounge was permanently infested with ponymotes.
u/Empiricist_or_not [+1] Aspiring polite Hegemonizing swarm (19 hours later)
This seems like a good thing.
u/None [+12] (2 hours later)
Rule 2: No Politics. Period.
Dude bro pal, you do know that's not what that means, right? A better phrase would be … "Politics is difficult to talk about without falling into tribalism, so watch yourself", or "Political examples should not be used in a non-political discussion." Or my personal favorite – "Politics is SPIDERS."
Whatever phrase you choose, it doesn't mean "never talk about politics"; nowadays, I think politics is getting extremely important for scientists and rationalists to not just ignore.
I mean, it's your sub. But especially since you call it a Lounge, i didn't expect a rule like that. Just expressing your surprise.
u/FeepingCreature [+3] GCV Literally The Entire Culture (6 hours later)
I mean, it's your sub. But especially since you call it a Lounge, i didn't expect a rule like that. Just expressing your surprise.
Well, ime politics tends to become unloungey fast. But maybe a more subtle phrasing would do the job just as well.
u/None [+10] (10 hours later)
If we can't keep our flame-wars friendly, we're not very good rationalists, are we?
u/FeepingCreature [+3] GCV Literally The Entire Culture (11 hours later)
We ought to live in the world that is, not the world that we wish that was.
Or: yeah, kinda.
I mean hey, I have hopes for friendly flame wars too, but I mean. Realistically.
u/JackStargazer [+3] Primordial Apologist (15 hours later)
That's what good moderation is for. Transparent moderation that explains why things are removed, but which does remove things that go beyond the pale.
There is no need to prevent useful discussions just because some discussions on that topic go to bad places. And politics is a hell of a long ranging thing to ban, how close can you get without going over? Is UBI politics? Is technological unemployment? Is law?
u/FeepingCreature [+2] GCV Literally The Entire Culture (16 hours later)
I think "politics" probably refers to situations where opinions are used to show allegiance with a cause (because those tend to be rather common, for uncertain reasons, in politics. Maybe only movements with this property are coherent enough to matter in politics?) Which is rather anti-reason.
u/alexanderwales [+4] Time flies like an arrow (20 hours later)
I don't know. When I think about the hot-button political issues, I usually think of them as just the tip of the iceberg for much more involved issues. People just flippantly say "I'm pro-choice" or "I'm pro-life" as this really extreme shorthand for a whole host of deeper matters of philosophy - in that particular case, there are three or four enormous discussions that are laying below the surface. If you're talking to the right people, a question like "Are you for or against gun control?" can actually turn into an interesting conversation about personal responsibility, the rule of law, game theory, etc.
Granted, most of the time it just turns into arguing over the facts or screaming the same old rhetorical points at each other with not the slightest trace of originality, but I really don't think it has to be like that.
u/FeepingCreature [+2] GCV Literally The Entire Culture (a day later)
I do agree we're probably missing out on a lot of potentially fun discussion to be had, and that's kind of sad.
u/JackStargazer [+2] Primordial Apologist (20 hours later)
Then wouldn't it be smarter to ban mindkilling/bandwagoning/groupthink instead of politics, as that is what we are specifically targetting?
Because there are other examples of places where that can show up that are not just political.
u/FeepingCreature [+1] GCV Literally The Entire Culture (a day later)
I agree with that, I think.
u/None [+1] (3 days later)
Personal heuristic: you can talk about politics if you never, ever bring up who to vote for.
u/logrusmage [+2] (18 hours later)
Shouldn't it just say "politics is the mind killer?"
u/None [+2] (a day later)
The thread deals with the fact that "politics is the mind killer" doesn't convey the proper meaning. People will either think you're insulting them by calling them "mind-killed" or it makes it look like aspiring rationalist shouldn't think about politics, lest they be mind-killed.
And that's just not what is meant by "politics is the mind-killer."
Politics is hard-mode has it's own problems, though, but I like it better than "mind-killer". Another suggestion was "politics is a minefield", which also works.
u/JoshuaBlaine [+1] Princess of the Wasteland (a day later)
I consider political discussion low value and overly appealing to discuss for bad reasons. Transparency and justification of mod action is very important to me as well, so if the rule as it stands seems too harsh, I'll re-word it and try and respond well to things on a case by case basis.
u/None [+2] (a day later)
Politics is Spiders. Avoid using political examples in non-political discussions, and tread very carefully if attempting to discuss politics.
10/10 change, I <3 Spiders
u/SmallSubBot [+1] (15 seconds later)
Link for the interested:
/r/LessWrongLounge: This subreddit exists as a place for Rationalists, and those aspiring to be[...]
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