My name is not Allison. “Alicorn” is not my real name, related to my real name, derived from my real name, similar to my real name, or otherwise indicative on any level of my real name.
Even if it were, I prefer not to disseminate my real name in most online contexts. For this reason SIAI-house-inhabiting persons have continued to refer to me as Alicorn, to avoid leakage of their knowledge of my real name. So even if you knew my real name, you should not use it.
I initially commented to the above effect that it was just a random brain-bleep and I did not remember your True Name if indeed I had ever been told it, but then deleted the comment, since if I had known your name to be Allison and genuinely slipped up, I would want to be the sort of person who simply wouldn’t say whether or not it was a revealing slip-up, one way or the other, so as to maintain Plausible Deniability. To put it another way, if it had been your real name, I would want to be able to truthfully say, “Whether it was her real name or just a brain-cache substitution, I would not confirm or deny it one way or the other, so you cannot take any evidence from the fact that I am being apparently evasive.” This requires that I say the same thing whether your name is Allison or not, since otherwise people can take Bayesian evidence from it. However since in this case you have already commented to this effect, I suppose I might as well confirm it.
I did once know an Allison and my brain seems to repeatedly substitute that name for yours. I usually catch it before commenting, but not this time. There are other bizarre things my brain does along the same lines, for example, I simply cannot remember, even after having been told a dozen times or more, whether Peter Thiel’s last name is pronounced Thee-el or Tee-el.
For my part, my brain automatically interprets your pseudonym as a portmanteau of “Allison” and “unicorn”, and there doesn’t seem to be much I can do about it. (Not that I would be any more tempted to refer to you as “Allison” than I would be to refer to you as “Unicorn”, of course.)
“Allison”?
My name is not Allison. “Alicorn” is not my real name, related to my real name, derived from my real name, similar to my real name, or otherwise indicative on any level of my real name.
Even if it were, I prefer not to disseminate my real name in most online contexts. For this reason SIAI-house-inhabiting persons have continued to refer to me as Alicorn, to avoid leakage of their knowledge of my real name. So even if you knew my real name, you should not use it.
I initially commented to the above effect that it was just a random brain-bleep and I did not remember your True Name if indeed I had ever been told it, but then deleted the comment, since if I had known your name to be Allison and genuinely slipped up, I would want to be the sort of person who simply wouldn’t say whether or not it was a revealing slip-up, one way or the other, so as to maintain Plausible Deniability. To put it another way, if it had been your real name, I would want to be able to truthfully say, “Whether it was her real name or just a brain-cache substitution, I would not confirm or deny it one way or the other, so you cannot take any evidence from the fact that I am being apparently evasive.” This requires that I say the same thing whether your name is Allison or not, since otherwise people can take Bayesian evidence from it. However since in this case you have already commented to this effect, I suppose I might as well confirm it.
I did once know an Allison and my brain seems to repeatedly substitute that name for yours. I usually catch it before commenting, but not this time. There are other bizarre things my brain does along the same lines, for example, I simply cannot remember, even after having been told a dozen times or more, whether Peter Thiel’s last name is pronounced Thee-el or Tee-el.
I apologize to all for making such a big issue about the typo. (I removed the flamebaitish part of my earlier comment.)
For my part, my brain automatically interprets your pseudonym as a portmanteau of “Allison” and “unicorn”, and there doesn’t seem to be much I can do about it. (Not that I would be any more tempted to refer to you as “Allison” than I would be to refer to you as “Unicorn”, of course.)
Exactly the interpretation my brain had. Until, of course, Alicorn told me she is named for the horn of a unicorn.
Obligatory wiki link. It isn’t the most reputable wiki link.
Yeah, “unicorn” would be a much better slip-up to make in terms of what the name actually means than “Allison”.
Her real name is Carmen Sandiego.
It can’t be, because I’m willing to reveal my location relative to the Earth.
True, but you haven’t revealed your temporal location relative to me.
I am at the same time as you, moving in the same direction at the same speed, barring relativistic complications that are unlikely to be significant.
Yes, but how do I know you’re telling the truth? Carmen Sandiego is purported to be very devious.
Well, but she wouldn’t outright lie, would she?
Honestly, I’m sufficiently young not to know about the non-trivial characteristics of Carmen Sandiego.
We have? I’d assumed it was just habit =)
There are multiple reasons at work, but that’s one of them, yes.