There are levels of “acceptance.” Personally, I’m intimate with very few, friendly with far more, in theory I have good will towards almost everybody, and (also in theory) I think that in principle I could regard certain individuals as true enemies. At what level would you propose to “accept” people who are irrational?
Case in point—consider me! I’ve never met you and don’t know you in meatspace. We have LessWrong in common, so I’m closer to you in that way than I am to...very, very many people. However, I wouldn’t necessarily declare that very specific interest of mine just as soon as we met, assuming we met by chance. I’d probably stick to general pleasantries and conventional etiquette until I knew you a bit better. So what would you do with me?
Oh, good point. There is a point where I might get uncomfortable with irrationality, even if this irrationality did not manifest itself in intolerance (it often does, but in some cases, it is annoying at worst). But, of course, I’m not completely consistent. Some things, like believing in astrology, will make me quickly uncomfortable. That being said, a smart person who believed in astrology could conceivably convince me otherwise (just as I have a lot of respect for some smart Christians).
So what would I do with you? Hm, it probably depends on the context. I used to have a problem of getting attached to people far too quickly. And it actually seemed to work, for a while (young teenagers in the environment of school seem to be more open to fellow classmates). So I’d probably declare that interest of mine as soon as we met. But I’m trying to change a bit to the pleasantries and etiquette.
Let me just spout out some reactions:
There are levels of “acceptance.” Personally, I’m intimate with very few, friendly with far more, in theory I have good will towards almost everybody, and (also in theory) I think that in principle I could regard certain individuals as true enemies. At what level would you propose to “accept” people who are irrational?
Case in point—consider me! I’ve never met you and don’t know you in meatspace. We have LessWrong in common, so I’m closer to you in that way than I am to...very, very many people. However, I wouldn’t necessarily declare that very specific interest of mine just as soon as we met, assuming we met by chance. I’d probably stick to general pleasantries and conventional etiquette until I knew you a bit better. So what would you do with me?
Oh, good point. There is a point where I might get uncomfortable with irrationality, even if this irrationality did not manifest itself in intolerance (it often does, but in some cases, it is annoying at worst). But, of course, I’m not completely consistent. Some things, like believing in astrology, will make me quickly uncomfortable. That being said, a smart person who believed in astrology could conceivably convince me otherwise (just as I have a lot of respect for some smart Christians).
So what would I do with you? Hm, it probably depends on the context. I used to have a problem of getting attached to people far too quickly. And it actually seemed to work, for a while (young teenagers in the environment of school seem to be more open to fellow classmates). So I’d probably declare that interest of mine as soon as we met. But I’m trying to change a bit to the pleasantries and etiquette.