Roko comments on Absolute denial for atheists - Less Wrong

39 Post author: taw 16 July 2009 03:41PM

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Comment author: Alicorn 17 July 2009 05:29:33PM 1 point [-]

It's hard to buy the idea that it's not supposed to have to do with objects or attainment when the phrasing looks like:

extremely attractive women that money and status would get them

You could just as easily say the same thing about cars or a nice house or something else readily available for sale. I wouldn't mind if the mate-seeking potential of money and status was discussed indirectly in a way that didn't make it sound like there is a ChickMart where you can go out and buy attractive women. "If I were a millionaire I could easily support a family", "if I were a millionaire I would have more free time to spend on seeking a girlfriend" - even "if I were a millionaire I could afford the attention of really classy prostitutes", because at least the prostitutes are outright selling their services. It's probably not even crossing the line to say something like "if I were a millionaire I would be more attractive to women".

Comment deleted 18 July 2009 03:17:19AM [-]
Comment author: Alicorn 18 July 2009 03:22:56AM 1 point [-]

Depending on whether you and I have the same working definition of "substantive", the following:

  • In the first statement, but not the second, the women are not "gotten" as an open-and-shut act of obtainment. They are only attracted (and that's assuming that the empirical claim is true).

  • In the first statement but not the second, the improvement to the person's attractiveness is described only as an improvement, not as a binary switch from not having extremely attractive women to having them.

  • In the second statement but not the first, the women singled out are a particular narrow group selected for that are implied to be the only ones of interest or import.