I thought "Meaningness" was about Values, so this is surprising to me. Basically every time you use the word "meaning" I would use the word "value". What am I missing?
-
-
Replying to @jes5199
I’m realizing it will take a fairly long essay to explain this. I thought it was kind of obvious, but responses on twitter show that it’s not at all.
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @Meaningness @jes5199
This is because when David says "values" he actually means ideological commitments. For some reason he can't bring himself to acknowledge the multiple senses of the term.
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
I’m not sure… the things usually cited as values are very simple (freedom, truth, fairness). Ideologies are complex by comparison
3 replies 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @Meaningness @edelwax
OK, I think now maybe I get your original point. There's no such thing as pure Freedom, etc. Hmm.
1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
Yes… these seem to be abstract invocations of holiness, rather than being well-enough defined that they have meaningful consequences.
1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
Replying to @Meaningness @edelwax
fair enough. But sometimes I get a freedom-flavored sense of meaning from some action or situation, so I evaluate it as good. You argue that the value-part of that is illusory?
1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
It’s extremely abstract. In any specific case, you have to ask “which freedoms? for whom? traded off against what?” With answers to such questions, it can be a useful concept. But saying “You must do X, because freedom!” is an illegitimate memetic power-play.
1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
With specific answers, you get some sort of principled system. “Freedom FTW!!” is the “values” version instead.
1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
“Freedom FTW!!” usually means “we intend to grab your stuff and force you to work for us.” So does “Hooray X!!” for any “value” X.
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
My mother lived under Soviet occupation in Hungary in the 1950s. “We are liberating it in the name of the people!” was the standard Russian explanation for “we are stealing your stuff at gun-point.”
-
-
Uh, sorry, late 1940s, not 1950s. By the 1950s, the Russians had already stolen everything.
0 replies 0 retweets 0 likesThanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.