Rationalist Taboo

TagLast edit: Oct 2, 2020, 12:12 AM by Ruby

Rationalist Taboo is a technique for fighting muddles in discussions. By prohibiting the use of a certain word and all the words synonymous to it, people are forced to elucidate the specific contextual meaning they want to express, thus removing ambiguity otherwise present in a single word.

Mainstream philosophy has a parallel procedure called “unpacking”. Unpacking has the requirement that the contentious or doubtful term be expanded out—not just replaced with a synonym—and only used as a collection of subcomponent concepts.

Main Posts

Taboo Your Words

Eliezer YudkowskyFeb 15, 2008, 10:53 PM

302 points

234 votes

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133 comments3 min readLW link

Taboo “Outside View”

Daniel KokotajloJun 17, 2021, 9:36 AM

352 points

178 votes

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31 comments8 min readLW link 2 reviews

Disputing Definitions

Eliezer YudkowskyFeb 12, 2008, 12:15 AM

120 points

105 votes

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46 comments5 min readLW link

Tabooing “Frame Control”

RaemonMar 19, 2023, 11:33 PM

66 points

34 votes

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41 comments10 min readLW link

Words as Hidden Inferences

Eliezer YudkowskyFeb 3, 2008, 11:36 PM

100 points

95 votes

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23 comments3 min readLW link

Work harder on tabooing “Friendly AI”

ChrisHallquistMay 20, 2012, 8:51 AM

27 points

24 votes

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52 comments2 min readLW link

Taboo “rationality,” please.

MBlumeMar 15, 2009, 10:44 PM

28 points

41 votes

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54 comments1 min readLW link

In favor of tabooing the word “values” and using only “priorities” instead

chaosmageOct 25, 2018, 10:28 PM

21 points

14 votes

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11 comments2 min readLW link

Detached Lever Fallacy

Eliezer YudkowskyJul 31, 2008, 6:57 PM

93 points

70 votes

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43 comments7 min readLW link

Tabooing Science + an xkcd comic about the eclipse—“Honestly, it’s not that scientific.”

VoltairinaAug 16, 2017, 3:19 PM

6 points

4 votes

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3 comments1 min readLW link

The Technique Taboo

lsusrOct 30, 2019, 11:22 AM

55 points

50 votes

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43 comments1 min readLW link

Take 8: Queer the inner/outer alignment dichotomy.

Charlie SteinerDec 9, 2022, 5:46 PM

31 points

17 votes

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2 comments2 min readLW link

Replace the Symbol with the Substance

Eliezer YudkowskyFeb 16, 2008, 6:12 PM

95 points

80 votes

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17 comments5 min readLW link

Avoid Contentious Terms

jefftkFeb 24, 2021, 3:10 AM

59 points

27 votes

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6 comments1 min readLW link

(www.jefftk.com)

Steelmanning as an alternative to Rationalist Taboo

cousin_itJul 25, 2017, 4:27 PM

1 point

3 votes

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2 comments1 min readLW link

Complex Signs Bad

EvenstarJul 3, 2023, 1:09 PM

5 points

15 votes

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2 comments3 min readLW link

Dreams of AI alignment: The danger of suggestive names

TurnTroutFeb 10, 2024, 1:22 AM

106 points

75 votes

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59 comments4 min readLW link

Taboo “human-level intelligence”

SherrinfordFeb 26, 2023, 8:42 PM

12 points

7 votes

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7 comments1 min readLW link

Are Natural Numbers Truly Immutable? Or Just a Mathematical Convention?

Joan Balaguer ArdanuyMar 10, 2025, 7:40 PM

1 point

1 vote

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1 comment1 min readLW link

Method of statements: an alternative to taboo

Q HomeNov 16, 2022, 10:57 AM

7 points

4 votes

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0 comments41 min readLW link

[Question] Writing tools for tabooing?

abramdemskiDec 13, 2020, 7:50 PM

15 points

6 votes

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25 comments1 min readLW link

Taxonomy of possibility

dkl9Apr 9, 2025, 4:24 AM

13 points

5 votes

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1 comment5 min readLW link

(dkl9.net)

Consider tabooing “I think”

Adam ZernerNov 12, 2024, 2:00 AM

8 points

15 votes

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2 comments7 min readLW link

Common Uses of “Acceptance”

Yi-YangJul 26, 2024, 11:18 AM

14 points

7 votes

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5 comments24 min readLW link

Exercise: Taboo “Should”

johnswentworthJan 22, 2021, 9:02 PM

97 points

64 votes

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28 comments9 min readLW link 2 reviews

A simple exercise in rationality: rephrase an objective statement as subjective and explore the caveats

ShmiApr 18, 2015, 11:46 PM

32 points

23 votes

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7 comments1 min readLW link

E-Prime

CannibalSmithApr 8, 2009, 1:01 PM

19 points

31 votes

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20 comments1 min readLW link

Grasping Slippery Things

Eliezer YudkowskyJun 17, 2008, 2:04 AM

36 points

30 votes

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17 comments7 min readLW link

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Ra­tion­al­ist Taboo

Main Posts

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Rationalist Taboo