I’d say nationalism is less worrisome for LWers than X-ism, where X is some tribe that inspires tribal thinking but that isn’t usually seen as a tribe.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bunch of people quite so full of habitual self-doubt as the folks on Less Wrong. Personally, I just don’t see how nationalist fervors even work. Rallies of any kind have always left me cold, even when everybody around me is cheering their lungs out. There’s no way I could start thinking thoughts like “My country, right or wrong” for more than three seconds without stopping to root out the infection—a familiar feeling by now, actually, since knowing about cognitive hazards often makes it possible to recognize when you’re slipping into one. I don’t think I’m unusual among LW-denizens in this respect.
But by all means, keep on being uneasy about this. That’s probably prudent.
For myself, I am painfully aware of my vulnerability to nationalism. I blame it on the years of propaganda from the entire cultural context I grew up in.
How immune do people here think they are to tribalist thinking? How confident are you you wouldn’t get swept up in a nationalist fervor?
I’d say nationalism is less worrisome for LWers than X-ism, where X is some tribe that inspires tribal thinking but that isn’t usually seen as a tribe.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bunch of people quite so full of habitual self-doubt as the folks on Less Wrong. Personally, I just don’t see how nationalist fervors even work. Rallies of any kind have always left me cold, even when everybody around me is cheering their lungs out. There’s no way I could start thinking thoughts like “My country, right or wrong” for more than three seconds without stopping to root out the infection—a familiar feeling by now, actually, since knowing about cognitive hazards often makes it possible to recognize when you’re slipping into one. I don’t think I’m unusual among LW-denizens in this respect.
But by all means, keep on being uneasy about this. That’s probably prudent.
I’m not! Yay us, boo them!
For myself, I am painfully aware of my vulnerability to nationalism. I blame it on the years of propaganda from the entire cultural context I grew up in.