I agree that the expression isn't used the way it might if we designed it ourselves, but idioms mean what people use them to mean, not what we think they should mean. Nick's tweets imply that Harden is at fault because she's used the common meaning that he didn't know about.
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Replying to @s8mb @Outsideness and
I’m not sure that’s what it does imply. You’re right that this is how the term is used, but there’s also a value in criticising the use of the term, because uncritical use of it might lead to the lottery metaphor being taken literally over time
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Replying to @RyanKhurana @s8mb and
What are you talking about?! Uncritical use? Sam's using the term correctly. No one except Steve Sailer and Nick Land have ever used the phrase genetic lottery to imply that genetic traits are random and not inherited.
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Replying to @Sam_Dumitriu @s8mb and
I’m not saying he’s not using the term as it’s commonly used, but why is that a reason to not criticise the metaphor?
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Replying to @RyanKhurana @s8mb and
Because the metaphor makes perfect sense. You are lucky to have been born with good genetic traits. Just as lottery winners are lucky. This is simple stuff.
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Replying to @Sam_Dumitriu @RyanKhurana and
A kid born to two smart+good-looking parents does not have Lottery odds of being smart and/or good-looking. Lottery is random; inheritance of traits is to an extent inevitable. Your underlying moral, latently theistic point makes more sense if you replace "lucky" with "blessed."
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Replying to @SethLargo @Sam_Dumitriu and
No, this is interpreting the metaphor from the wrong angle, like I pointed out before. The "genetic lottery" is that, from any child's point of view, their genes are unchosen, not that parents have no influence on what genes they pass on.
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Replying to @salonium @SethLargo and
Now complaining that this angle is Rawlsian (OK, so what?) is a totally different issue from the obvious misinterpretation that Sailer and
@Outsideness made in the beginning of the thread.2 replies 0 retweets 3 likes -
Replying to @salonium @Sam_Dumitriu and
No complaining here. And insofar as their misinterpretation led you to formulate your excellent challenge, I'm glad they misinterpreted the metaphor :)
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Did you just surrender to the Fifth Monarchist Spiritual Commune?
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