Right, that’s what I was getting at in “Crux: “Rationalism” Is An Activist Term.”
Through this lens, the reason people feel discomfort calling themselves a “rationalist” is because they’re afraid of making themselves big. If what we want is to be big, then maybe we should encourage each other to publicly and unapologetically identify as rationalists, and to project the notion that we are in fact dedicated to a practice and movement for rationality that does make us more rational than other people? Is that a stance we’re comfortable?
And if we’re not comfortable with that big stance, but do like the punch of the word “rationality,” then how do we reconcile that? Do we like being vicariously big through our champion, Big Yud?
Right, that’s what I was getting at in “Crux: “Rationalism” Is An Activist Term.”
Through this lens, the reason people feel discomfort calling themselves a “rationalist” is because they’re afraid of making themselves big. If what we want is to be big, then maybe we should encourage each other to publicly and unapologetically identify as rationalists, and to project the notion that we are in fact dedicated to a practice and movement for rationality that does make us more rational than other people? Is that a stance we’re comfortable?
And if we’re not comfortable with that big stance, but do like the punch of the word “rationality,” then how do we reconcile that? Do we like being vicariously big through our champion, Big Yud?
I wouldn’t have gotten into rationality if it weren’t for the (implicit) promise that doing so would make me better.