Politics is a hard subject to discuss rationally. Correspondingly, LessWrong has a developed a unique set of norms and habits around discussions politics that still allow for dialog while hopefully avoiding many pitfalls. The exact norms are hard to summarize, but many of them are conveyed through blog posts.

Today, we're going to take a step on that path.

Please read the following three essays, and come prepared to discuss them.

Politics is the Mind Killer: https://www.lesswrong.com/s/ZnSMHcWjRx6yT4H92/p/9weLK2AJ9JEt2Tt8f

Policy Debates Should Not Appear One-sided: https://www.lesswrong.com/s/ZnSMHcWjRx6yT4H92/p/PeSzc9JTBxhaYRp9b

Conflict vs Mistake Theory: https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/01/24/conflict-vs-mistake/

Questions to consider:

• Where do you most often see discussions of politics fall short?
• What mistakes do you personally notice yourself making when discussing politics?
• Do you think you spend most of your time in Conflict or Mistake mode?

You may also be interested in the ACX Ballot meetup next week.
Note: I created the event, but Evan is running it since I'll be out of town.