draft: "The Signaling Hazard Objection"

[Ultimately_Untrue_Thought.git] / notes / a-hill-of-validity-sections.md

diff --git a/notes/a-hill-of-validity-sections.md b/notes/a-hill-of-validity-sections.md
index 84b1a69..1cafde5 100644 (file)
--- a/notes/a-hill-of-validity-sections.md
+++ b/notes/a-hill-of-validity-sections.md
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@ noncontiguous on deck—
 X reluctance to write a memoir during 2019
 X pinging Ben about memoir reluctance
 X actually good criticism from Abram
-_ help from Jessica for "Unnatural Categories"
 _ let's recap / being put in a box
 _ "duly appreciated"
 _ if he's reading this
 _ tie off reply to Xu
+_ help from Jessica for "Unnatural Categories"
 _ bridge to "Challenges"
 _ Christmas party 2019 and state of Church leadership
 _ Anna vs. Michael factional conflict
@@ -359,10 +359,6 @@ https://www.unqualified-reservations.org/2007/12/explanation-of-democratic-centr
 
 the second generation doesn't "get the joke"; young people don't understand physical strength differences anymore
 
-I just thought of an interesting argument that almost no one else would (because it requires both prog-sight and NRx-sight)
-You know the "signaling hazard" (pace Jim) argument against public tolerance of male homosexuality (tolerating gays interferes with normal men expressing affection for each other without being seen as gay, which is bad for unit cohesion, &c.). Until recently, I hadn't thought much of it (because of my prog upbringing)—why do you care if someone isn't sure you're straight?
-but recent events have made me more sympathetic to its empirical reality—if human nature is such that 140+ IQ ppl actually can't publicly clear up a trivial philosophy-of-language dispute because of the fear of appearing transphobic—well, that's really dumb, but it's the SAME KIND of dumb as "can't express male friendship because of the fear of appearing gay"
-which suggests a "signaling hazard" argument in favor of political correctness (!!)—we can't tolerate racism, or else Good people would have to incur more costs to signal antiracism (same structure as "we can't tolerate gays, or else normal guys have to incur more costs to signal not-gayness")
 
 that's the thing; I read as lefty because I am morally lefty (in contrast to Real Men Who Lift &c.); it's just that I had the "bad luck" of reading everything I could about race and IQ after the James Watson affair in 'aught-seven, and all my leftness is filtered through ten years of living with inconvenient hypotheses