Document comments on Rationality Quotes 9 - Less Wrong

7 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 27 January 2008 06:00PM

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Comment author: Document 04 September 2013 09:48:39PM 0 points [-]

He clearly does know why she's considered important, or he couldn't meaningfully disagree that she was. If he literally only knew that there was someone by that name considered important, that would be a reason to try to learn more, not to brag about his ignorance.

Most likely he has at least the same background knowledge as most English speakers; that she's a television figure who at one point starred in a show bearing her name. Read uncritically, the quote creates an image of his literally being baffled and asking "Who?" every time someone mentions her; that's an exaggeration and a brag.

Comment author: Jiro 04 September 2013 10:06:32PM 0 points [-]

Yes, he knows she's someone who had a TV show. That isn't equivalent to knowing why she's important, since not every person who has a TV show is considered important. I would imagine that he has no idea what distinguishes this TV show from other TV shows whose stars are not considered important.