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This is the weakest pg essay I've come across. I can think of so many counter-examples. "Stand for nothing and you'll fall for anything." It's very convenient t

by reedlaw 10y ago

This is the weakest pg essay I've come across. I can think of so many counter-examples. "Stand for nothing and you'll fall for anything." It's very convenient to have a small identity with few convictions because convictions are costly. Sophie Scholl identified with anti-Nazi politics and it cost her her life. We have a word for people like her: hero.

santoshalper 10y ago
Paul didn't say "have no convictions", he said "keep your identity small"... save your convictions for things that really matter, not stupid shit like sports teams, programming languages, favorite <games/movies/books/TV>. I don't feel like you grasped the article clearly.
- reedlaw 10y ago
  His main examples of identity were politics and religion.
  - newjersey 10y ago
    I think it is possible/fairly safe to cheer for the Denver Bronco's or the New York Yankees, or Crystal Palace football club or Team SoloMid or whatever without making that one's identity. Edit: Just now, someone showed me a video which claimed drinking apple cider vinegar helped prevent cancer. I tried to say that this is billshit because nobody can really say drinking something prevents cancer without a long-term study that I doubt this YouTube celebrity had done. I don't claim I don't have a bias. But I don't think we should be sin free to cast the first stone on ideas.
    - chillacy 10y ago
      Regarding sports teams and identity, I suspect the guy who says "wow good game" after their home team loses and the guy who feels crummy for a week is the extent that they identify with the team. I had a brief stint with that in college with my college football team. The wins felt like giant ego rushes and the losses felt like I had lost a million bucks. Now I can pretend to cheer but I don't really care as much.
- solipsism 10y ago
  Seems like you didn't grasp the article clearly. PG says you can't think clearly about things that are part of your identity. You think he's arguing that you should choose things that really matter to be the things you _can't think clearly about_?
davidiach 10y ago
The way I understand "keep your identity small" is something like don't broadcast your identity all the time. That's a position antithetical to narcissism.
tomp 10y ago
Did she identify with anti-Nazi politics or did she only support them because her principles and deepest beliefs told her that Nazi politics is just wrong?

by reedlaw 10y ago

santoshalper 10y ago

Paul didn't say "have no convictions", he said "keep your identity small"... save your convictions for things that really matter, not stupid shit like sports teams, programming languages, favorite <games/movies/books/TV>. I don't feel like you grasped the article clearly.

reedlaw 10y ago
His main examples of identity were politics and religion.
- newjersey 10y ago
  I think it is possible/fairly safe to cheer for the Denver Bronco's or the New York Yankees, or Crystal Palace football club or Team SoloMid or whatever without making that one's identity. Edit: Just now, someone showed me a video which claimed drinking apple cider vinegar helped prevent cancer. I tried to say that this is billshit because nobody can really say drinking something prevents cancer without a long-term study that I doubt this YouTube celebrity had done. I don't claim I don't have a bias. But I don't think we should be sin free to cast the first stone on ideas.
  - chillacy 10y ago
    Regarding sports teams and identity, I suspect the guy who says "wow good game" after their home team loses and the guy who feels crummy for a week is the extent that they identify with the team. I had a brief stint with that in college with my college football team. The wins felt like giant ego rushes and the losses felt like I had lost a million bucks. Now I can pretend to cheer but I don't really care as much.
solipsism 10y ago
Seems like you didn't grasp the article clearly. PG says you can't think clearly about things that are part of your identity. You think he's arguing that you should choose things that really matter to be the things you _can't think clearly about_?

davidiach 10y ago

The way I understand "keep your identity small" is something like don't broadcast your identity all the time. That's a position antithetical to narcissism.

tomp 10y ago

Did she identify with anti-Nazi politics or did she only support them because her principles and deepest beliefs told her that Nazi politics is just wrong?