asr comments on George Orwell's Prelude on Politics Is The Mind Killer - Less Wrong

10 [deleted] 29 March 2012 04:27PM

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Comment author: asr 01 April 2012 08:37:58AM 1 point [-]

The word regime usually means "the overall structure of the government" or "a period of legal and administrative continuity" -- not just a particular cabinet or party in power. It's misleading to refer to a General Election as a change of regime.

Comment author: TimS 02 April 2012 11:21:58PM 4 points [-]

That might be what people mean, but I think Eugine is right in his implicit statement that the common understanding is not a natural kind in terms of political analysis.

Comment author: asr 03 April 2012 03:04:55AM *  -1 points [-]

Of course. Most terms in politics are socially constructed, not natural. They have meaning because we have collectively agreed to use them in some particular ways. It impedes communication to use them in a non-standard way without being clear about the nonstandard use. Hence, I commented to flag it.

Comment author: Eugine_Nier 03 April 2012 04:59:40AM 2 points [-]

socially constructed, not natural

These are not mutually exclusive.