This is a special post for quick takes by Marcio Díaz. Only they can create top-level comments. Comments here also appear on the Quick Takes page and All Posts page.
My first impression of LessWrong is that allowing downvotes (and even upvotes) without any explanation risks making the site stagnant, reinforcing one narrow worldview without ever acknowledging it.
Many people here are majorly not interested in dissenting viewpoints to AI alignment or human genetic engineering or utilitarianism. If not for downvotes they will find some other way to shoo you away.
I think it undersells the hard work of the moderators behind the scenes to think that merely setting up the karma system reinforces the good worldview. See the Well-Kept Gardens post for the official stance of why keeping out unproductive distractions that disrupt the community is necessary.
1Marcio Díaz
Thanks. I think that oftentimes when I downvote without giving a reason, it feels like backstabbing. So I try to put it into words, and then I realise that I might just be biased and end up cancelling the downvote.
It could also be the case that you either die by pacifism or by stagnation. Nothing lasts, so maybe it’s just about choosing how you want to die at a particular moment. Given our current high-stakes times, it might be wise to reflect on how you want to face that. I’m glad that a lot of AI safety research is happening here, and not only in the (much more) walled gardens of academia.