My personal theory is that not all talk is signalling, but almost all talk about signalling is. (It signals “I am smart, sophisticated, not easily fooled, and willing to face uncomfortable realities; I see below the carefully groomed surface of things to the ugliness beneath.”)
In the particularly prominent case of Literal Robin Hanson, it seems possibly significant that the uncomfortable realities he uncovers are generally much more uncomfortable for one of the two major political factions in the US than for the other, and that the “other” one is the one responsible for a lot of his funding over the years (though I think he may no longer be affiliated with the Mercatus Center now?).
(Only possibly significant, and I do actually mean that. Obviously things that are politically convenient for the person saying them can also be true.)
My personal theory is that not all talk is signalling, but almost all talk about signalling is. (It signals “I am smart, sophisticated, not easily fooled, and willing to face uncomfortable realities; I see below the carefully groomed surface of things to the ugliness beneath.”)
In the particularly prominent case of Literal Robin Hanson, it seems possibly significant that the uncomfortable realities he uncovers are generally much more uncomfortable for one of the two major political factions in the US than for the other, and that the “other” one is the one responsible for a lot of his funding over the years (though I think he may no longer be affiliated with the Mercatus Center now?).
(Only possibly significant, and I do actually mean that. Obviously things that are politically convenient for the person saying them can also be true.)