GeniesLoki

realized i can gather data on this question myselfhttps://twitter.com/QiaochuYuan/status/1292378488515649536?s=20 …

This poll doesn't test what I'm claiming though? You're missing the crucial step which is the actual proposed mechanism.

My claim is that the mechanism is: 1. I talk about the thing. 2. Other people who are already mostly on side read it. 3. Those other people are now more likely to act usefully in situations where they have high leverage.

I don't expect people who are being hypocrites to read these tweets and go "Yeah I'm being a hypocrite, I'll stop". I do think people who read these tweets and go "You're right, that *is* bullshit" to be slightly more inclined and better equipped to change the social environment.

Also TBH even if they don't change the social environment I still think it helps to articulate why a behaviour bothers me, because I find that often other people are bothered by the same thing and haven't been able to articulate it yet.

that's a mechanism i definitely believe in!https://twitter.com/QiaochuYuan/status/1140680972951666688?s=20 …

what i don't believe in is the idea that pointing out hypocrisy causes people to improve their behavior. it's a super common assumption hiding behind a lot of moralistic internet posting and i think it basically doesn't work at all for improving the behavior of strangers

Yes, I'd agree that this doesn't work for improving the behaviour of strangers. I've largely given up on the idea of improving the behaviour of people who I don't know and am not already broadly on side with though.