pwno comments on Off-Topic Discussion Thread: April 2009 - Less Wrong

11 Post author: MBlume 05 April 2009 03:23AM

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Comment author: MasterGrape 05 April 2009 07:36:03PM 2 points [-]

I live in France where I make wine. I travel a lot to talk about and sell the wine. I have a blog where I write about wine. ... It's nice to come here and think about things that have nothing to do with wine.

I also come here to detox after having frustrating conversations with wine idiots and whatnot. My most recent detox was after a series of comments on my aforementioned blog which the masochists amongst you can read at http://mastergrape.com/blog/?p=270

Comment author: pwno 05 April 2009 10:48:38PM *  3 points [-]

The wine culture is, in my opinion, all about status signaling. I wouldn't be surprised if wine enthusiasts are also over-cynical: a common intellectual status signal.

Comment author: MasterGrape 06 April 2009 01:53:58PM 2 points [-]

Interesting. Is there a pejorative connotation to being cynical that rationalists know of? Does that just mean they're really critical? Does it mean I'm hyper-critical?! I may be.

It's definitely true that the wine world is swamped with people that excessively favor tradition. It can impede progress or any kind of logical discourse at times.

Comment author: loqi 07 April 2009 02:54:04AM 2 points [-]

Is there a pejorative connotation to being cynical that rationalists know of?

I think Eliezer's take on cynicism is spot on.

Comment author: Lojban 07 April 2009 02:41:43AM 1 point [-]

Voted up. Tradition is annoying.