>Or even caring about people's emotions and sense of self, seems to have never occurred to any of them that I have met.
But that's not relevant to a community focusing on rational discussion. And it's the exact opposite of what cults do - they try to shower their followers with love. Not caring too much about people's emotional attachments to their beliefs is appropriate on LessWrong. It is inappropriate outside of that context.
Yes. The issue is that many seem to have the complete inability to understand this. I don't care what they do in their own IRC channel or community; it's entirely inappropriate to attack somebody without their consent anywhere else, and yet they do.
But that's not relevant to a community focusing on rational discussion. And it's the exact opposite of what cults do - they try to shower their followers with love. Not caring too much about people's emotional attachments to their beliefs is appropriate on LessWrong. It is inappropriate outside of that context.