Sorry, I misunderstood, I do agree that the ritual is connected to the group identity. Do you expect it to have significant effects on the LW group identity besides increasing the sense of community?
I think that opting out of a component of the group identity doesn’t necessarily lead to alienation. For example, caring about FAI is a significant part of the LW group identity, but people who care about FAI much less than, say, building rationality skills (like myself) are still welcome and included.
they’re now abstaining from something which defines the group, and therefore mark themselves as Not Part Of The Group.
Do you mean signaling that you’re not part of the group, or feeling that you’re not part of the group, or both?
I think that opting out of a component of the group identity doesn’t necessarily lead to alienation.
This is true, but a ritual designed explicitly as a group-bonding exercise (and, it seems, the most prominent such exercise) is more likely to be something opting out of which contributes to alienation than, say, caring about FAI.
Do you mean signaling that you’re not part of the group, or feeling that you’re not part of the group, or both?
Both. Although I didn’t so much mean “signaling that you’re not part of the group” as “doing something which is interpreted by other group members as an indication that you’re not part of the group”, but the difference is of emphasis at best.
Sorry, I misunderstood, I do agree that the ritual is connected to the group identity. Do you expect it to have significant effects on the LW group identity besides increasing the sense of community?
I think that opting out of a component of the group identity doesn’t necessarily lead to alienation. For example, caring about FAI is a significant part of the LW group identity, but people who care about FAI much less than, say, building rationality skills (like myself) are still welcome and included.
Do you mean signaling that you’re not part of the group, or feeling that you’re not part of the group, or both?
This is true, but a ritual designed explicitly as a group-bonding exercise (and, it seems, the most prominent such exercise) is more likely to be something opting out of which contributes to alienation than, say, caring about FAI.
Both. Although I didn’t so much mean “signaling that you’re not part of the group” as “doing something which is interpreted by other group members as an indication that you’re not part of the group”, but the difference is of emphasis at best.