I don’t care to defend empty “cheap talk” signals, but the best virtue signals offer some proof of their claim by being difficult to fake.
I think this is the crux: the common usage of the phrase “virtue signalling” and the economics notion of “signalling” have diverged; people use the phrase primarily, maybe even exclusively, to refer to cheap talk, and to emphasize this cheapness. Eg Cambridge Dictionary defines virtual signaling as: “an attempt to show other people that you are a good person, for example by expressing opinions that will be acceptable to them, especially on social media”.
This doesn’t take away from the value of genuine signals of good character, but it does mean we need a different term for them.
Yep. Another objection is that ‘virtue’ is used kinda ironically in this context; the intended meaning is something like “tribal loyalty signaling”. Okay, from the perspective of the tribe, loyalty is a virtue, but from the perspective of the person who accuses others of “virtue signaling” it is more like “you may believe that you are signaling that you are a good person, but actually you are signaling that you are a sheep/fanatic”.
I think it’s too early to say the true meaning of virtue signal is now tribal signal. I wish to reclaim the word before that happens. At the very least I want people to trip on the phrase a little when they reach for it lazily, because the idea of signaling genuine virtue is not so absurd that it could only be meant ironically.
I think this is the crux: the common usage of the phrase “virtue signalling” and the economics notion of “signalling” have diverged; people use the phrase primarily, maybe even exclusively, to refer to cheap talk, and to emphasize this cheapness. Eg Cambridge Dictionary defines virtual signaling as: “an attempt to show other people that you are a good person, for example by expressing opinions that will be acceptable to them, especially on social media”.
This doesn’t take away from the value of genuine signals of good character, but it does mean we need a different term for them.
Yep. Another objection is that ‘virtue’ is used kinda ironically in this context; the intended meaning is something like “tribal loyalty signaling”. Okay, from the perspective of the tribe, loyalty is a virtue, but from the perspective of the person who accuses others of “virtue signaling” it is more like “you may believe that you are signaling that you are a good person, but actually you are signaling that you are a sheep/fanatic”.
I think it’s too early to say the true meaning of virtue signal is now tribal signal. I wish to reclaim the word before that happens. At the very least I want people to trip on the phrase a little when they reach for it lazily, because the idea of signaling genuine virtue is not so absurd that it could only be meant ironically.
Suggestions for new terms and strategies for preventing them being co-opted too?