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Culture War Roundup for the week of October 10, 2022

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Gessler can be defied. In extremity, Gessler can be shot. That is the difference, in my view.

Rationalists seem to have this idea that things should make sense, that reason should prevail. I see this as a failing. Human reason is flawed and limited, and the structures built upon it are riddled with flaws. "This doesn't make sense to me" isn't actually proof that the thing in question is broken. Life is full of small indignities, frustrations and compromises, some of which can be fought, most of which have to be merely accepted. If there were an actual benefit to mentioning the word, I'd retract my argument. I don't see one, because I think mentioning it has downsides, and I don't see any actual upsides.

Fighting linguistic taboos led us to where we are now, and I think it's pretty questionable whether it was ever going to lead anywhere else. Words have power, and that power is well-described, like it or not, by the term "magical". Sure, it's all social consensus. But it's actually a consensus, and it's vastly beyond the ability of individuals or small groups or even large ones to change.

If I tell you I'm emptying the ocean with a teaspoon, it's not actually more rational to offer me a backhoe, or even bagger-288. Like, it's not actually a question of scoop size; none of this is at all how the ocean works: water seeks low points, evaporation and rainfall, this isn't going to work. So too with the question at hand.

Concur on the witch density. Time to get on our arguing pants.

If there were an actual benefit to mentioning the word, I'd retract my argument. I don't see one, because I think mentioning it has downsides, and I don't see any actual upsides.

I generally agree with your position here, but I'd argue for one particular exception: when making a precise argument that fuzzed mentioning will muddy, and in particular, when quoting someone else for accuracy. If you're going to attribute a string in quotes to someone else, be clear and exact in what was said.

So can the pearl-clutchers.

I don't think they can; I mean, there's no individual person, it's a massively-distributed network representing the top 60-70% of power, wealth and influence across both tribes. I think the social consensus is too strong, and the benefit sufficiently hypothetical, that it's simply a bad choice. I agree that bullies should be defied. I do not think beating their knuckles with my nose is the way to do it.

There is no chance that using the word in question will damage the taboo against it. Nor will larger-scale attempts to damage the taboo be seen as a positive action. Nor will making a fight of it actually undermine the power of the bullies in any way. They can do this; pretending they can't isn't resistance, it's stupidity. They are not imposing a rule arbitrarily, but rather exploiting a rule that came about for good reasons: Slavery, Jim Crow, the actual legacy of actual racism. That reality is where they're getting most of the power in this instance. It's a kill-zone, so why walk into it?

If they said it's bad to spray-paint swastikas on synagogues or wear white sheets and pointy hoods in public, is it "giving in" to not do those things either? I mean, it's just shapes and clothes, right?