Avoid inflationary use of terms. “Sadistic” does not mean “a policy that I disapprove of”. Being unable to distinguish the two is a failure of your own comprehension, nothing more.
I assure you, that was not an inflationary use on my part. I meant precisely what I said.
You are proposing a general cultural rule for how people must behave (don’t introduce yourself to strangers on planes) for the benefit of Bob. This amounts to a large cost in lost opportunity and freedom that is paid by the people you consider “too diffuse and theoretical” to deserve consideration to suit the convenience of Bob who is important enough for you to make up a name for him. All the other people who have Bob’s particular psychological disorder presumably warrant your consideration despite being diffuse and theoretical.
You misread me, I think… the cost in lost opportunity and freedom in the “interact with strangers” case, just as in the “punch in face” case, is paid by a very concrete person: Alice. She is certainly neither diffuse nor theoretical. I specifically commented on her preferences, and the satisfaction or non-satisfaction thereof.
What is too diffuse and theoretical is “society’s” interests in the “vote” case. That is why the “vote” case makes a poor analogy for the “interact with strangers” case.
I assure you, that was not an inflationary use on my part. I meant precisely what I said.
I’ll repeat with emphasis that being unable to distinguish between a policy decision that you disapprove of and sadism is a significant failure in comprehension. It is enough to make whatever opinions you may express about what social norms should be lose any hope of credibility.
There is, however, also a difference between lack of comprehension and disagreement, which you seem to not be recognizing. There are plenty of policies that I disapprove of without considering them to be sadistic. Also: “perverse to the point of being indistinguishable from sadism” does not mean “I actually think this policy was motivated by sadism” (a distinction to which I alluded in the post where I made this comment). In general, I think you are reading me quite uncharitably here.
I assure you, that was not an inflationary use on my part. I meant precisely what I said.
You misread me, I think… the cost in lost opportunity and freedom in the “interact with strangers” case, just as in the “punch in face” case, is paid by a very concrete person: Alice. She is certainly neither diffuse nor theoretical. I specifically commented on her preferences, and the satisfaction or non-satisfaction thereof.
What is too diffuse and theoretical is “society’s” interests in the “vote” case. That is why the “vote” case makes a poor analogy for the “interact with strangers” case.
I’ll repeat with emphasis that being unable to distinguish between a policy decision that you disapprove of and sadism is a significant failure in comprehension. It is enough to make whatever opinions you may express about what social norms should be lose any hope of credibility.
There is, however, also a difference between lack of comprehension and disagreement, which you seem to not be recognizing. There are plenty of policies that I disapprove of without considering them to be sadistic. Also: “perverse to the point of being indistinguishable from sadism” does not mean “I actually think this policy was motivated by sadism” (a distinction to which I alluded in the post where I made this comment). In general, I think you are reading me quite uncharitably here.