I don’t think that it’s particularly rational to be poly, but I do think that most people who are trying to be rational try to be poly, because being poly is a natural consequence of assumptions which sound reasonable and which few people in our society who identify with reason challenge.
Also, let me note that I see polyamory through a lens much closer to that held by many lesbians, which sees sexual orientation as primarily political, rather than the lens favored by most male homosexuals, which sees sexual orientation as primarily biological but which would seem to contradict what we know of the history of cultures such as Classical Greece.
You really ought to get yourself an anonymous alter-identity so you aren’t tempted to discuss things like this under your real name. I believe that you in particular should avoid this topic when writing on public forums.
I’m curious as to why me in particular, but I’m happy to hear from you privately. In general, I go with radical transparency. I think that the truth is that so long as you don’t show shame, guilt or malice you win. Summers screwed up by accepting that his thoughts were shameful and then asserting that they were forced by reason and that others were so forced as well. This is both low-status and aggressive, a bad combination and a classic nerdy failure mode.
I find it doubtful that most aspiring rationalists try to be poly; there are probably more making the attempt since the polyhacking post, but I would be pretty surprised if they constitute a majority.
Personally, I’m already polyamorous in that I’m open to relationships of more than two people, provided all the people are in a relationship with each other (TheOtherDave referred to relationships of this kind as closed polyads, but I haven’t heard the term elsewhere and get no results by googling it.) I have no desire at all to engage in open relationship polyamory like Luke, Eliezer or Alicorn and MBlume, nor do I wish to self modify so that I would be happy with such a relationship. I don’t suppose my own romantic inclinations are representative of the broader rationalist community, but I don’t believe polyamory is as significant attractor as you seem to.
On a side note, I have tried to hack myself bisexual, to no avail. As far as I’m concerned, men are about as sexually attractive as plants and there seems to be nothing I can do about it.
I think it’s a matter of how far people go in these aspirations, and certainly asexuality is another plausible attractor. People can’t be very aspiring towards rationality if something like the the polyhacking post influenced them much. Personally, I don’t recommend polyamory, I just think that it’s common among the extreme enough outliers.
This might depend on what one means by poly. I’ve been in poly and mono relationships before and don’t try actively for either, it is a function of whether my primary is someone who is poly or mono. (This did lead to an interesting issue recently in that my current girlfriend is monoamorous and so I had to downgrade a certain highly poly friend back into the just friend category when my current girlfriend and I got serious.)
I’d call that poly, just like being open to strait or bi relationships makes you bi. It just means that you have self-determination regarding your actions and take responsibility for positive actions, which is pretty much our group’s core defining trait.
I don’t think that it’s particularly rational to be poly, but I do think that most people who are trying to be rational try to be poly, because being poly is a natural consequence of assumptions which sound reasonable and which few people in our society who identify with reason challenge.
Also, let me note that I see polyamory through a lens much closer to that held by many lesbians, which sees sexual orientation as primarily political, rather than the lens favored by most male homosexuals, which sees sexual orientation as primarily biological but which would seem to contradict what we know of the history of cultures such as Classical Greece.
You really ought to get yourself an anonymous alter-identity so you aren’t tempted to discuss things like this under your real name. I believe that you in particular should avoid this topic when writing on public forums.
I’m curious as to why me in particular, but I’m happy to hear from you privately. In general, I go with radical transparency. I think that the truth is that so long as you don’t show shame, guilt or malice you win. Summers screwed up by accepting that his thoughts were shameful and then asserting that they were forced by reason and that others were so forced as well. This is both low-status and aggressive, a bad combination and a classic nerdy failure mode.
I find it doubtful that most aspiring rationalists try to be poly; there are probably more making the attempt since the polyhacking post, but I would be pretty surprised if they constitute a majority.
Personally, I’m already polyamorous in that I’m open to relationships of more than two people, provided all the people are in a relationship with each other (TheOtherDave referred to relationships of this kind as closed polyads, but I haven’t heard the term elsewhere and get no results by googling it.) I have no desire at all to engage in open relationship polyamory like Luke, Eliezer or Alicorn and MBlume, nor do I wish to self modify so that I would be happy with such a relationship. I don’t suppose my own romantic inclinations are representative of the broader rationalist community, but I don’t believe polyamory is as significant attractor as you seem to.
On a side note, I have tried to hack myself bisexual, to no avail. As far as I’m concerned, men are about as sexually attractive as plants and there seems to be nothing I can do about it.
I think it’s a matter of how far people go in these aspirations, and certainly asexuality is another plausible attractor. People can’t be very aspiring towards rationality if something like the the polyhacking post influenced them much. Personally, I don’t recommend polyamory, I just think that it’s common among the extreme enough outliers.
This might depend on what one means by poly. I’ve been in poly and mono relationships before and don’t try actively for either, it is a function of whether my primary is someone who is poly or mono. (This did lead to an interesting issue recently in that my current girlfriend is monoamorous and so I had to downgrade a certain highly poly friend back into the just friend category when my current girlfriend and I got serious.)
I’d call that poly, just like being open to strait or bi relationships makes you bi. It just means that you have self-determination regarding your actions and take responsibility for positive actions, which is pretty much our group’s core defining trait.
How are you defining poly then? Can you be more explicit?