Blank lines before lists, revisited

[jgm]

@codinghorror

that requires blank lines between paragraphs and lists, except when the paragraphs are (direct?) children of a list item

Can you elaborate on this with some examples?

This paragraph is not a direct child of a list item.
1. So this wouldn't be a list.

> Neither is this.
  1. So, not a list.

* But this paragraph is a direct child of a list item.
  1. So this would be a list.

*   > What about paragraphs that are descendents, but not direct children, of list items,
    > like this (which is a child of a block quote which is in turn a child of a list item)?
    > 1. Should this be allowed to start a list?

I think it’s best to only allow lists to interrupt paragraphs that are direct children of list items.

@Crissov

I wonder if it was enough to require two or more of these characteristics.

I worry that building in complex heuristics like this makes it too hard for writers to predict what will happen, and will lead to unexpected and surprising results.