RichardKennaway comments on Rationality quotes: April 2010 - Less Wrong

5 Post author: wnoise 01 April 2010 08:41PM

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Comment author: RichardKennaway 01 April 2010 10:01:35PM *  4 points [-]

At this point I reveal myself in my true colours as a stick-in-the-mud. I hold a number of beliefs that have been repudiated by the liveliest intellects of our time. I believe that order is better than chaos, creation better than destruction. I prefer gentleness to violence, forgiveness to vendetta. On the whole I think that knowledge is preferable to ignorance, and I am sure that human sympathy is more valuable than ideology. I believe that in spite of recent triumphs of science, men haven't changed much in the last two thousand years. And in consequence, we must still try to learn from history. History is ourselves.

Sir Kenneth Clarke, "Civilisation" (Excerpt on YouTube.)

Comment author: [deleted] 20 November 2012 08:28:27AM 1 point [-]

These seem mostly like applause lights.

Comment author: RichardKennaway 20 November 2012 09:10:21AM 1 point [-]

These seem mostly like applause lights.

"Applause light" is the applause light here.

Comment author: [deleted] 20 November 2012 09:24:44AM *  0 points [-]

I noticed that after writing it, but I'm standing by my original assessment. To the LW community, "applause light" has a relatively specific meaning and is a useful and compact way of expressing a sense in which I don't think the statements above are useful statements to make, and I don't want to taboo that word just because it looks like I'm trying to signal affiliation with the LW tribe or whatever. (I'll happily taboo the word if it interferes with actual communication, but technical vocabulary exists for a reason.)

If the point you're trying to make is that "applause light" is a fully general counterargument, then doesn't that point also apply to itself (in that both "applause light" and "fully general counterargument" are both applause lights and fully general counterarguments)?