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I'm not sure this article has any real meaning besides being a strained excuse to string a bunch of interesting tidbits together. Names mean different things t

by causi 5y ago

I'm not sure this article has any real meaning besides being a strained excuse to string a bunch of interesting tidbits together. Names mean different things to different people. Your name is your label. It's through your words and deeds you determine what meaning that label has. So when someone asks, "Who are you," don’t tell them "Bud Baker," or "Larry Watterworth," or even your legal name. Tell them who you really are, and if they stick around, then tell them your human label. I don't know if this is symbolic advice or just naive advice. That's obviously not a practical course of action.

phdelightful 5y ago
Doubly so because when someone says “who are you,” usually they mean “what’s your name?”
imdvayn 5y ago
The terminology used and author conclusions are questionable but the idea the article presents (using a pseudonym or 'pseudopseudonym' that is like a more concise version of your name) is a solid approach to marketing yourself and making a more significant impression on others is true. People have been aware of this since Positioning was first published in the 80s. Whether or not you want to is up to you, but for someone like me I'd prefer not to use my whole unique and cumbersome name.
bobthepanda 5y ago
do articles have to have real meaning to be worthy of writing? the arts and philosophy are rarely a dry instruction booklet to do X, Y and Z.
SllX 5y ago
“My name is my name!” —Marlo Stanfield
travisjungroth 5y ago
It’s an art piece not a tech blog. You might not like, you might not think it’s any good, but don’t score a poem like a stereo manual.
ok_dad 5y ago
For many years, I was known as Firstname Firstlastname, but several years ago I got married and now I’m Firstname Secondlastname. Which is my true label? I tend to go by First, a shortened version of Firstname. Is that my label? Oh yea, also, my wife goes a first name totally different than her legal first name, so her family calls her one thing, and her friends call her something else. She’s still the same person either way. Names aren’t all that important, I’m thinking.
- causi 5y ago
  She’s still the same person either way. See I don't think that's true, at least not always. You're not a different person at work than at home? You've never been uncomfortable because you have two sets of people in the same place who are accustomed to you filling a different role?

by causi 5y ago

phdelightful 5y ago

Doubly so because when someone says “who are you,” usually they mean “what’s your name?”

imdvayn 5y ago

The terminology used and author conclusions are questionable but the idea the article presents (using a pseudonym or 'pseudopseudonym' that is like a more concise version of your name) is a solid approach to marketing yourself and making a more significant impression on others is true. People have been aware of this since Positioning was first published in the 80s. Whether or not you want to is up to you, but for someone like me I'd prefer not to use my whole unique and cumbersome name.

bobthepanda 5y ago

do articles have to have real meaning to be worthy of writing? the arts and philosophy are rarely a dry instruction booklet to do X, Y and Z.

SllX 5y ago

“My name is my name!” —Marlo Stanfield

travisjungroth 5y ago

It’s an art piece not a tech blog. You might not like, you might not think it’s any good, but don’t score a poem like a stereo manual.

ok_dad 5y ago

For many years, I was known as Firstname Firstlastname, but several years ago I got married and now I’m Firstname Secondlastname. Which is my true label? I tend to go by First, a shortened version of Firstname. Is that my label? Oh yea, also, my wife goes a first name totally different than her legal first name, so her family calls her one thing, and her friends call her something else. She’s still the same person either way. Names aren’t all that important, I’m thinking.

causi 5y ago
She’s still the same person either way. See I don't think that's true, at least not always. You're not a different person at work than at home? You've never been uncomfortable because you have two sets of people in the same place who are accustomed to you filling a different role?