Decius comments on Three more ways identity can be a curse - Less Wrong
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Comments (104)
That isn't what "be yourself" means. Furthermore, if that was what the phrase meant, "be yourself" would be terrible advice to listen to. I don't talk about Asian adult film stars in places where it is inappropriate because I have an "identify" of a) not being entirely socially incompetent and b) not being wilfully irrational and sabotaging myself. Adapting to the social environment one finds oneself in is not a weakness, it don't mean you have sacrificed your identity. It indicates that you are well rounded individual who is adaptable, self aware and comfortable. A strong identity doesn't need to prove itself in every conversation via counter-productive self-expression.
False. (See Villiam's explanation.)
Misleading. While people's mental state's are based on chemical states and depressed individuals tend to have some differences in certain aspects of that chemical state, depression itself is not defined in terms of chemicals. In both theory and practice depression is a label based on a cluster of symptoms. So while lack of motivation does not constitute depression, lack of motivation combined with several other symptoms from the relevant group would.
What do you do when it is appropriate? Example: group is playing Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, and someone says "Why don't we try something crazy, like an Asian porn star? Do you pretend to be ignorant of the names of Asian porn stars because having that information is low-status, or do you volunteer the names that you know?
Territory and map in the depression discussion: The symptoms are what can be seen in living individuals, because the chemistry cannot be nondestructively measured. It's worth noting that by a strict interpretation of the DSM, only the diagnostic symptoms of depression qualify as immediate causes; suicide attempts cause depression, not the other way around.
I think you, and possible also the DSM, are confusing efficient cause, material cause, and formal cause.
I think that I'm accurately representing the implications of using a strict interpretation of the DSM definitions, where 'three out of five' is the necessary and sufficient condition for a disease to exist.
"suicide attempts cause depression, not the other way around." This can't be right. Speaking for myself, it's definitely wrong.