I’m Tuvia Dulin, and I ended up on these forums after reading Harry Potter fanfiction. I suspect that this is a common story among the membership.
I’ve tried to be rational ever since I learned what rationality was, but it wasn’t until I suffered a psychotic episode that I learned what the true consequences of irrationality were. That was many years ago, and I have since completely recovered, but in some ways I’m glad for the experience; it taught me that without rationality, you have nothing dependable or sane.
“Rationality” is defined a bit differently here than in other places. Thereisgoodjustification for this. It makes me suspicious any time I hear someone discuss the meaning of a word, as it makes it likely they are invalidly trying to argue by definition, but here “rationality” has a close meaning within and without LW, closer than any other word, and also sufficiently close that it is better to use it than use a new word.
I don’t have time to read all of those posts right this second (though I will over the next couple of days), but if you could just briefly explain how I’m misusing the word, that would be cool.
After the local use of “rationality” was established, a second word actually gained a meaning that is nearly as close to “rationality” (as used here) as “rationality” (as used elsewhere) is.
That word is “winning”, used in the broadest and most general way, as popularized by Charlie Sheen. This doesn’t imply an endorsement of any particular thing related to him, but the term “winning” did approach what is meant here by “rationality” around New Years, or whenever that media flurry occurred.
Even so, “winning” might be a bit farther from LW “rationality” than standard “rationality”.
Welcome to Less Wrong! Your name totally rocks. Is it your legal name?
it taught me that without rationality, you have nothing dependable or sane
Oy, tell me about it! (Actually, do tell me about it, if you want to. I’m interested in developing systematic techniques to cope with mental illness. Or at least in building scientifically sound bases for kvetching about it.)
Yes, Tuvia Dulin is my born and legal name. When I need a pseudonym, I’m known as Blake Alexander Hannon.
“Mental illness” is a very broad category, and I’m not sure if my way of dealing with what happened to me would work for other disorders as well. I’ll talk about this at length when I have time; for now, I’m afraid I’ve got to run.
I’m Tuvia Dulin, and I ended up on these forums after reading Harry Potter fanfiction. I suspect that this is a common story among the membership.
I’ve tried to be rational ever since I learned what rationality was, but it wasn’t until I suffered a psychotic episode that I learned what the true consequences of irrationality were. That was many years ago, and I have since completely recovered, but in some ways I’m glad for the experience; it taught me that without rationality, you have nothing dependable or sane.
“Rationality” is defined a bit differently here than in other places. There is good justification for this. It makes me suspicious any time I hear someone discuss the meaning of a word, as it makes it likely they are invalidly trying to argue by definition, but here “rationality” has a close meaning within and without LW, closer than any other word, and also sufficiently close that it is better to use it than use a new word.
I don’t have time to read all of those posts right this second (though I will over the next couple of days), but if you could just briefly explain how I’m misusing the word, that would be cool.
You’re not misusing the word.
After the local use of “rationality” was established, a second word actually gained a meaning that is nearly as close to “rationality” (as used here) as “rationality” (as used elsewhere) is.
That word is “winning”, used in the broadest and most general way, as popularized by Charlie Sheen. This doesn’t imply an endorsement of any particular thing related to him, but the term “winning” did approach what is meant here by “rationality” around New Years, or whenever that media flurry occurred.
Even so, “winning” might be a bit farther from LW “rationality” than standard “rationality”.
Others might disagree with my assessment.
Welcome to Less Wrong! Your name totally rocks. Is it your legal name?
Oy, tell me about it! (Actually, do tell me about it, if you want to. I’m interested in developing systematic techniques to cope with mental illness. Or at least in building scientifically sound bases for kvetching about it.)
Yes, Tuvia Dulin is my born and legal name. When I need a pseudonym, I’m known as Blake Alexander Hannon.
“Mental illness” is a very broad category, and I’m not sure if my way of dealing with what happened to me would work for other disorders as well. I’ll talk about this at length when I have time; for now, I’m afraid I’ve got to run.