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Why is it accepted that feelings should be relevant here? I'm not trying to be provocative, I'm genuinely open to listen to your response to that. To paraphras

Why is it accepted that feelings should be relevant here? I'm not trying to be provocative, I'm genuinely open to listen to your response to that. To paraphrase Data O'Briain, "zombies are at an all-time low but the fear of zombies could be incredibly high, doesn't mean we should have government policies to deal with the fear of zombies": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zopCDSK69gs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zopCDSK69gs If we're getting meta, I think that the first thing that should be discussed is: What are we optimizing for, and how do we measure it?

ihsw2 9y ago
We are optimizing for the minimization of outrage from mainstream and social media. There's not much else to go on.
- fwdpropaganda 9y ago
  Why? Who cares? Shouldn't we be optimizing towards everyone having at least the chance to do the thing they like for a living, or something along those lines?
ESRogs 9y ago
Feelings get in the way of changing minds. Ignoring your own or your opponents' feelings doesn't make them go away. Take a look at the article. How is someone who is concerned about sex differences in representation going to feel when they read, "Many academics in the modern world seem obsessed with the sex difference..."? The article shoots itself in the foot in the first sentence. It's not going to change minds because it doesn't consider feelings. Writing in a way that gets the facts right, and uses good arguments, and is worded in a way that doesn't turn off your opponents is hard. But it can be done. I think slatestarcodex.com often does it (though not always).
- fwdpropaganda 9y ago
  > Feelings get in the way of changing minds. So going even more meta, that's the first thing that should be addressed. I realise that eliminating feelings completely is a lost battle, but I thing at minimum how socially acceptable it is to make decisions based on feelings would be beneficial.

ihsw2 9y ago

We are optimizing for the minimization of outrage from mainstream and social media. There's not much else to go on.

fwdpropaganda 9y ago
Why? Who cares? Shouldn't we be optimizing towards everyone having at least the chance to do the thing they like for a living, or something along those lines?

ESRogs 9y ago

Feelings get in the way of changing minds. Ignoring your own or your opponents' feelings doesn't make them go away. Take a look at the article. How is someone who is concerned about sex differences in representation going to feel when they read, "Many academics in the modern world seem obsessed with the sex difference..."? The article shoots itself in the foot in the first sentence. It's not going to change minds because it doesn't consider feelings. Writing in a way that gets the facts right, and uses good arguments, and is worded in a way that doesn't turn off your opponents is hard. But it can be done. I think slatestarcodex.com often does it (though not always).

fwdpropaganda 9y ago
> Feelings get in the way of changing minds. So going even more meta, that's the first thing that should be addressed. I realise that eliminating feelings completely is a lost battle, but I thing at minimum how socially acceptable it is to make decisions based on feelings would be beneficial.