pnrjulius comments on Two More Things to Unlearn from School - Less Wrong
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If you couldn't use the word "deserved," could you still write this sentence? Easily: "Here are some examples of people that I hold in higher or lower esteem than I think society in general holds them."
You could gloss it that way, but you'd miss something very important: I think I'm RIGHT to do so. I don't think it's just some subjective esteem that I randomly happen to hold for some people over others. I think that it is IRRATIONAL to esteem Donald Trump (and yes, I think that most people are irrational; why else would I be on Less Wrong?).
Do capitalized words, and the confidence they represent, result in a more precise map of the territory? Or do they convince us to draw our map to suit them, rather than to suit the lay of the land?