erratio comments on Eight Short Studies On Excuses - Less Wrong

210 Post author: Yvain 20 April 2010 11:01PM

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Comment author: erratio 01 October 2010 10:48:40AM 2 points [-]

I can strongly disagree or disapprove of a position or person without bringing hate into it. eg. back when I was pseudo-religious and kept kosher, I was fine with seeing and smelling pork products and listening to my friends go on about how tasty pork products are, because I was completely confident in my choice not to eat them. No emotional bolstering required. In the case of Scientology et al. it's even easier to be confident, because I would have to undergo brain damage or some kind of severe personality modification before their beliefs would look plausible.

Also on a more pragmatic note, humans aren't good at separating people from their opinions. If you cultivate a hatred of Scientology and then meet someone who used to be a Scientologist but left, there's a very real chance that I would feel dislike for them purely based on their past affiliation, and that's not a behaviour I want to endorse.

Comment author: nick012000 01 October 2010 11:16:12AM *  0 points [-]

In the case of Scientology et al. it's even easier to be confident, because I would have to undergo brain damage or some kind of severe personality modification before their beliefs would look plausible.

Personality modification is exactly how cults and affective death spirals work. ;)

Comment author: erratio 01 October 2010 11:32:40AM 1 point [-]

Right, but why would I want to undergo that kind of modification to join in something that I already find completely stupid and implausible? It would be like trying to convince myself that I've always wanted to be a circus clown. My prior for becoming a Scientologist is just so low that I can't see how trying to cultivate an emotional response could decrease it any further.

Comment author: nick012000 01 October 2010 11:54:46AM 0 points [-]

Maybe, but if you were less informed about their methods, you might be surprised how easily they might be able to suck you in.