Conversation
Notices
-
Embed this notice
I've started to realize that people are taking me up on my offer to ignore or block me if they don't like effortposting because I'm not gonna stop.
Probably for the best.
But in my view, there's only a few reasons to have discussions online.
1. To yell pre-packaged platitudes at each other for sport
2. To try to help the hours of our lives to tick away faster
3. To try to make the entire earth correct by correcting people one at a time
4. To become mutually better through putting ideas through the gauntlet.
I've actually done some of these myself. When I was younger I'd happily argue online for sport, or I'd be bored and it was a good way to pass the time. When I was younger, I was even foolish to think I could help change the way the world saw things.
Today, however, the only reason that makes sense to discuss things online is to try to become better yourself and help better the people you discuss things with. We are all so far from what we could be, and I think that's been intentional by powers larger than ourselves.
I'm thankful to everyone who engages in good faith, perhaps especially people who push back and force me to better explain what I mean, or better understand what I'm saying. Recently there's been quite a few people who did well forcing me to think more about certain things I took for granted or forcing me to clarify something. @Hyolobrika often asks one piercing question on posts and it's like "Well, I can see how without clarification it might look like I'm saying something I'm not"
I'm thankful to guys like @amerika who spend a lot of time and effort helping to explain worldviews that are fully alien to me, because how can you agree or disagree with that which you don't understand? I don't always come away agreeing totally, but often I come away with my worldview changed by exposure to ideas I hadn't explored myself.
When people interact with me and get a big wall of text, it might be easy to assume I'm just trying to stonewall or filibuster, but often it's actually me trying to work through ideas publicly, and often there's a lot of actual research behind the wall of text. It might seem like it's a stop in the discussion, but what's the point of continuing to discuss if we don't actually take a deep dive into ideas that could change everything?
- BowserNoodle ☦️ likes this.
- BowserNoodle ☦️ repeated this.
-
Embed this notice
@sj_zero @amerika @Hyolobrika I love that you effortpost. I spent plenty of time on old BBS and IRC charts back when people would have long discussions over text. Internet was accessibility gated and generally had smarter or at least more curious people on it. Funny how "CHUDs" are more willing to accept an argument in good faith while "heckin' wholesome chungus tolerant people" (midwits actually) assume they know you better than you know yourself and refuse to hear you out.
-
Embed this notice
@sj_zero @amerika @Hyolobrika Sometimes you just want a hell thread.
-
Embed this notice
@sj_zero @amerika You should start a blog IMO. It might attract smarter people who are less likely to throw insults and more likely to engage with your ideas.
Or you could join LessWrong. Or both
-
Embed this notice
@sj_zero @amerika @Hyolobrika Thanks man, I appreciate that. Are you going to write any more books? I'd like to see you try your hand at futurism.
-
Embed this notice
I always appreciate seeing your positive feedback too. I'm trying to be principled, but I'm still a human being and so seeing that people are interested in what I'm up to helps feel like I'm not just shouting into the void too.
-
Embed this notice
I don't have timelines at the moment, but I do have hope for at least 2 more books, one programming book and one hard science fiction book.
sj_zero
BowserNoodle ☦️
white_male
Hyolobrika
All GNU social JP content and data are available under the