If you don’t know “what on earth [your interlocutor is] talking about”, this should make you less sure of your footing.
I’m pretty sure the question was rhetorical.
I do not trust everyone to judge the effects of their actions on others,
Unfortunately, the mere fact that you are raising this concern specifically in this context communicates a certain stance on the underlying issue(s), or, more bluntly, alignment with a certain faction in this particular power-struggle.
...and I’m probably communicating the opposite alignment by replying in this manner. So it goes.
I have a policy of not commenting on the “underlying issue(s)”, but I will permit myself the meta-level remark that the topic in question really does apparently amount to a hot-button dispute in contemporary social politics. In which case, quite frankly, it should be avoided as far as possible on Less Wrong.
I do have a stance. Stances. I’m arguing here that 1) wedrifid and MixedNuts are talking past each other, 2) we need to be more careful about PUA than many think. In particular, the idea of somehow just diving in while avoiding any discussion of ethics seems awfully ill-advised, if it’s even possible. It does seem like a valuable topic for some of LW to pull apart, if it can be done properly (on the one hand, how likely is it that sex & sexual politics is a mindkiller topic? on the other, if LW can’t handle a little sex & politics, I’d like to know.)
And branching off of your comment about factions—to whom it may concern, I wish to explicitly distance myself from any given LW faction, real or illusory. Yes, even yours, even if I may agree with you on some / many topics.
Indeed. It’s a figure of speech that I didn’t even consider when using. I suppose it could be replaced with “That’s utter nonsense and it is amazing that something so nonsensical appeared in a context where it doesn’t seem to fit!”—but the question seems to be a bit milder.
I assert that the replacement means basically the same thing. I don’t think you and MixedNuts are on the same page. Your surprise is a blinking warning light.
I assert that the replacement means basically the same thing.
You are mistaken. The meanings are entirely different. The sort of rhetorical equivocation Mixed used is not accepted here no matter the subject and when it comes to something as important as rape it is something I consider offensive.
I gave my example because it is the closest related ethical consideration that is, in fact, sane. I assumed that at very least it is something you would agree with and could possibly be similar to what you had resolved Mixed’s words to. This was to establish that I was rejecting any and all arguments along the lines of “PUA means rape” but not rejecting questions of whether certain social practices are or not ethical in their own right.
Your surprise is a blinking warning light.
To be frank it was disgust, not surprise that I experienced.
You are mistaken. The meanings are entirely different.
?? Can we be a little more explicit about what exactly we’re referring to? I meant that your replacement of “What on earth are you talking about?” with “That’s utter nonsense and it is amazing that something so nonsensical appeared in a context where it doesn’t seem to fit!” still indicates an acknowledgement on your part that your interpretation of MixedNuts’ post seems wildly incongruous, and therefore that said interpretation should be subject to closer scrutiny.
Similarly, when you say
I gave my example [...]
is that “Persuading people to do stuff (like shag you) that you know damn well they really don’t want to do is totally a dick move!”
If so then I think we pretty much agree except WRT MixedNuts’ meaning, and our other apparent disagreements flow from that issue.
To me it seems clear that MixedNuts was NOT saying “PUA means rape” or similar. My reading was more along the lines of “PUA is concerned, to a large extent, with methods of obtaining sex. If you’re discussing PUA sans ethics, then you are likely to discuss ‘methods of obtaining sex’ sans ethics, which conspicuously includes rape—a problematic situation if you’re banning ethical objections.” You appear extremely confident in your reading—could you point to something in particular that convinces you?
Of course if MixedNuts could resolve our disagreement that would be quite helpful.
I’m pretty sure the question was rhetorical.
Unfortunately, the mere fact that you are raising this concern specifically in this context communicates a certain stance on the underlying issue(s), or, more bluntly, alignment with a certain faction in this particular power-struggle.
...and I’m probably communicating the opposite alignment by replying in this manner. So it goes.
Indeed.
I have a policy of not commenting on the “underlying issue(s)”, but I will permit myself the meta-level remark that the topic in question really does apparently amount to a hot-button dispute in contemporary social politics. In which case, quite frankly, it should be avoided as far as possible on Less Wrong.
I do have a stance. Stances. I’m arguing here that 1) wedrifid and MixedNuts are talking past each other, 2) we need to be more careful about PUA than many think. In particular, the idea of somehow just diving in while avoiding any discussion of ethics seems awfully ill-advised, if it’s even possible. It does seem like a valuable topic for some of LW to pull apart, if it can be done properly (on the one hand, how likely is it that sex & sexual politics is a mindkiller topic? on the other, if LW can’t handle a little sex & politics, I’d like to know.)
And branching off of your comment about factions—to whom it may concern, I wish to explicitly distance myself from any given LW faction, real or illusory. Yes, even yours, even if I may agree with you on some / many topics.
Indeed. It’s a figure of speech that I didn’t even consider when using. I suppose it could be replaced with “That’s utter nonsense and it is amazing that something so nonsensical appeared in a context where it doesn’t seem to fit!”—but the question seems to be a bit milder.
I assert that the replacement means basically the same thing. I don’t think you and MixedNuts are on the same page. Your surprise is a blinking warning light.
You are mistaken. The meanings are entirely different. The sort of rhetorical equivocation Mixed used is not accepted here no matter the subject and when it comes to something as important as rape it is something I consider offensive.
I gave my example because it is the closest related ethical consideration that is, in fact, sane. I assumed that at very least it is something you would agree with and could possibly be similar to what you had resolved Mixed’s words to. This was to establish that I was rejecting any and all arguments along the lines of “PUA means rape” but not rejecting questions of whether certain social practices are or not ethical in their own right.
To be frank it was disgust, not surprise that I experienced.
?? Can we be a little more explicit about what exactly we’re referring to? I meant that your replacement of “What on earth are you talking about?” with “That’s utter nonsense and it is amazing that something so nonsensical appeared in a context where it doesn’t seem to fit!” still indicates an acknowledgement on your part that your interpretation of MixedNuts’ post seems wildly incongruous, and therefore that said interpretation should be subject to closer scrutiny.
Similarly, when you say
is that “Persuading people to do stuff (like shag you) that you know damn well they really don’t want to do is totally a dick move!”
If so then I think we pretty much agree except WRT MixedNuts’ meaning, and our other apparent disagreements flow from that issue.
To me it seems clear that MixedNuts was NOT saying “PUA means rape” or similar. My reading was more along the lines of “PUA is concerned, to a large extent, with methods of obtaining sex. If you’re discussing PUA sans ethics, then you are likely to discuss ‘methods of obtaining sex’ sans ethics, which conspicuously includes rape—a problematic situation if you’re banning ethical objections.” You appear extremely confident in your reading—could you point to something in particular that convinces you?
Of course if MixedNuts could resolve our disagreement that would be quite helpful.