What are your best short witticisms, suitable for use on a t-shirt, bumper sticker, or similar location? Ideally something that might make someone reading it think, or get curious enough to ask about it. Simple in-group identification is fine too, though.
For context, therufs is spending today at the NC Maker Faire making t-shirts, and asked me for suggestions this morning. As I was still mostly asleep, I wasn't very helpful.
Someone write a script to sort comments in Rationality Quotes threads by net karma per character!
I did exactly that after looking at this thread, and only spotted your comment when I wanted to post the results.
I skipped some obvious refinements as this was a 5 minute project.
I think you should not try to promote rationality this way. It's tacky (it's bad signaling (the reference class becomes all the other things which are promoted this way)).
I don't think wearing slogans on shirts is much of a way to promote anything. It's a signal of affiliation. Shirt slogans don't change people's minds, but they can help like-minded people recognize each other and view each other favorably.
Plus, as time goes on, the reference class of things which are promoted on shirts gets closer and closer to being all-inclusive.
PQWAK.
Personally, when I encounter a difficulty, I say to myself, "This wouldn't stop Akemi Homura."
"Keep calm and apply Bayes' Rule" below a Tudor crown logo.
I'm wondering if pictures vs text-only makes a difference in how effectively a t-shirt will prompt questions or conversations.
Also, whether the class of which the above is an instance - hitching a ride on an already well-known meme - wins over originality.
Wish someone would run a proper experiment :)
Wearing clothes with slogans written on them is a bad idea socially. It is quite unlikely that anyone will ask you about it, and even less likely that such an interaction will result in any good. All the negative social effects are likely to overshadow the few positive encounters you may have. Even if you wear the clothes with the slogan in the appropriate social context, like a Less Wrong meetup, they don't add any value.
If you wanted to talk to someone about rationality, what do you think would help more in impressing them: a rationalist wearing normal, ...
I think this depends very much on your social circle and social goals. Wearing clothing with slogans on it is a high variance strategy: high attractiveness to a few people, low or even negative attractiveness to others. Wearing slogan-less clothing is more low variance; probably no one will object, but likely none of your responses will be as positive as the maximum positive response from wearing a T-shirt with a slogan on it. Both strategies can be useful, depending on what you are trying to accomplish.
Personally, I wear shirts with nerdy slogans on them, and anecdotally have had several positive interactions with people who came up to me to say "I like your shirt." (And I doubt I've lost much by turning people off.)
Also, I'm unconvinced that, in a casual context, wearing a shirt with a slogan on it is as negative as you suggest. I see people wearing shirts with slogans I don't get all the time, and I think I just ignore them, or occasionally ask what they mean (which rarely gets me very far conversation-wise, but doesn't cause me to dislike the person).
On the other hand, if you're trying to project an aura of Serious Grownup, it's probably a bad idea.
EDIT: Unless you're talking about shirts with controversial slogans, I suppose. That's even more high-variance, but again, in some contexts could still be a good idea. (I was thinking of things like "Engineering: It's like math, but louder.")
Special Pleading Objection?
But Johnny Depp is special: he's Johnny Depp. He's an elite. And breaking (fashion) rules may be part of why he continues to be perceived as an elite (I'm thinking particularly of Kleef et al 2011 in http://lesswrong.com/lw/dtg/notes_on_the_psychology_of_power/ ).
This list is not in order of importance 1) Strangers you want to have conversations with. 2) People you already regularly see. 3) People you want to attract or significant others you already have. 4) Comfort and your own enjoyment. 5) You can also anti-optimize your clothing to filter out people you don't want to interact with. 6) People who you want to hire you. 7) People you are trying to sell things to.
It's also important to remember that you can wear different clothing at different times. In some of these cases, especially salesmanship, optimizing your clothing will be very similar to optimizing it for the vast majority of people. But the point is optimizing for the majority isn't a good thing in and of itself, it's a path to an end.
Fortunately, I keep a quotefile for just such an occasion. Here are some of the pithier entries:
Peace if possible, truth at all costs. -- Martin Luther
Trust, but verify -- Russian saying
Live forever or die trying
I intend to live forever. So far, so good. -- Rick Potvin
Give me immortality or death. -- Nick de Jongh
"I'm not a psychopath, I'm just very creative"
TANSTAAFL -- Heinlein
What you don't know will kill you. -- The Cynic's Book of Wisdom
Half of knowledge is knowing the questions. -- The Cynic's Book of Wisdom
Look behind the curtain. -- The C...
Peace if possible, truth at all costs. -- Martin Luther
The fact that he started some really bloody wars over something that didn't even turn out to be true should maybe give us some pause before we endorse virtues like this.
All syllogisms have three parts, therefore this is not a syllogism
American Non-Sequitur Society--We don't make sense, but we do like pizza
Any slogan simple enough to fit on a bumper sticker is too simple to do any good
Ask me about my vow of silence
Circular Definition: see Circular Definition
Circular logic is self-validating. Therefore, it is correct.
Does this program halt?
I shouldn't make sweeping generalizations, but we all do it.....
I think my brain has a mind of its own
If I'd known grandchildren would be so much fun, I would have had them firs...
The power of accurate observation is called cynicism by those who have not got it.
The shirt I ended up making said "small creature" (alluding to the quote from Contact.) I'm not sure if anyone "got it", but quote recognizeability wasn't on my list of goals. (Roughly in order of priority, these were: have a fresh shirt hanging up, that I could make quickly, that I might want to wear again.)
Participants mostly made shirts with names, Dr. Who references, and homages to Minecraft.
I recommend just put Bayes theorem on it. That way, those who don't get it will see "random equation" instead of "controversial statement I disagree with", thus making you look smart rather than obnoxious.
The shirt I ended up making said "small creature" (alluding to the quote from Contact.) I'm not sure if anyone "got it", but quote recognizeability wasn't on my list of goals. (Roughly in order of priority, these were: have a fresh shirt hanging up, that I could make quickly, that I might want to wear again.)
Participants mostly made shirts with names, Dr. Who references, and homages to Minecraft.
Well, I got it :) But you were a bit busy at the point where I was thinking "Hey, that's pretty cool!", and then I didn't remember to say anything later...
So, I thought it was a good choice :)