Sorry, I couldn’t tell what was a quote and what wasn’t.
Polyamory is usually defined as honest nonmonogamy. In other words, any time someone is dating two people openly, that’s poly. It’s how many humans naturally behave. It doesn’t require exposure to US poly communities, or any community in general for that matter.
As you discuss in the dropbox link, this is a pretty massive selection bias. I’d suggest that this invalidates any statement made on the basis of these studies about “poly people,” since most poly people seem not to be included. People all over the world are poly, in every country, of every race and class.
It’s as if we did a study of “rationalists” and only included people on LW, ignoring any scientists, policy makers, or evidence-based medical researchers, simply because they didn’t use the term “rationalist.”
You state:
While polyamory communities have blossomed for decades in the USA (cf. Munson and Stelboum 1999a; Anderlini-D’Onofrio 2004c), polyamory is still quite unknown in Europe. The social organisation of polyamorous communities is not very advanced in most European countries.
Clearly polyamory is not unknown in Europe, though the word “polyamory” might be. Let’s not confuse polyamory, which exists anytime someone openly dates two people, with socially organized communities using the term “polyamory.”
I know that the antidepressant Wellbutrin, which is a stimulant, has been associated with a small amount of weight loss over a few months, though I’m not sure if this has been shown to stay for longer. That’s an off-label use though.
I’d guess that any stimulant would show weight loss in the short-term. Is there some reason this wouldn’t stay long-term?
How is Mormonism attractive? You don’t even get multiple wives anymore. And most people think you’re crazy.
What about a small amount of mild stimulant use?
Why would you not want to be someone who wears a cloak often? And whatever those reasons are, why wouldn’t they prevent you from wearing a cloak after you buy it?
it’s very, very likely there’s life outside our solar system, but I don’t have any evidence of it
If there’s no evidence of it (circumstantial evidence included), what makes you think it’s very likely?
Poly groups tend to be well-educated well-paid white people
I’m baffled by this. Are you saying most studies tend to be done on this group? Do you mean in the US? Are you referring to groups who call themselves poly, or the general practice of honest nonmonogamy?
Are you polysaturated yet? Most people seem to find 2-3 to be the practical limit.
I actually never was asked to say the Pledge in any US school I went to, and I’ve never even seen it said. I’m pretty sure this is limited to some parts of the country and is no longer as universal as it may have been once. If someone did go to one such school, they and their parents would have the option of simply not saying the Pledge, transferring to a different school (I doubt private or religious schools say it), or homeschooling/unschooling.
For what it’s worth, I’ve never seen it said in any of the US schools I’ve attended. It’s not universal.
I’ve played that game, using various shaped blocks that the Customer has to assemble in a specific pattern. It’s great.
There’s also the variation with an Intermediary, and the Expert and Customer can only communicate with the Intermediary, who moves back and forth between rooms and can’t write anything down.
Precommiting is useful in many situations, one being where you want to make sure you do something in the future when you know something might change your mind. In Cialdini’s “Influence,” for instance, he discusses how saying in public “I am not going to smoke another cigarette” is helpful in quitting smoking.
If you think you might change your mind, then surely you would want to have the freedom to do so?
The whole point is that I want to remove that freedom. I don’t want the option of changing my mind.
Another classic example is the general who burned his ships upon landing so there would be no option to retreat, to make his soldiers fight harder.
If you know what you’re doing, the Phd example is not more than a 5 minute process—I’ve walked people through worse things in about that time.
Please elaborate!
I don’t want to eat anything steaklike unless it came from a real, mooing, cow. I don’t care how it’s killed.
I’m worried I’m overestimating my resistance to advertising, so I’m hereby precommitting to this in writing.
Would “servant” not otherwise be justified?
That’s a good reminder but I’m not sure how it applies here.
It also fails in the case where the strangest thing that’s true is an infinite number of monkeys dressed as Hitler. Then adding one doesn’t change it.
More to the point, the comparison is more about typical fiction, rather than ad hoc fictional scenarios. There are very few fictional works with monkeys dressed as Hitler.
Yes, “sweet” is a great description. Why, how would you describe it?
See this article on Sarah Hrdy.