[ExI] new term

[Ben Zaiboc]

On 10/04/2023 00:54, bill w wrote:
> Labels - where would we be without labels and groups?  Worse off by a 
> long shot.  We would have to explain in all the little details 
> just what we are talking about, whereas the label tells you most of it 
> and then you can say just how you deviate from it.  We cannot do 
> without generalization.
>
> Without:  I am of mostly European origin with some parts for Scotland, 
> some from Ireland, some from France,and a little bit from India.
>
> With:  I am white, mostly western European
>
> Loosen up out there!    bill w

I think you both have a point.

I call myself an atheist, have for a long long time. But I've lost count 
of the number of times people take that to mean I'm something that I'm 
not. The problem with then trying to clarify it, is that those people 
take no notice of what I'm telling them because the term seems to have 
poisoned their minds. Anything I say after that is (often, if they're 
religious) interpreted as an attack on them.
Of course, with that particular example, there does seem to be a general 
confusion between not believing something is true and believing that 
it's not true. A great many people apparently aren't capable of seeing 
the difference (or simply refuse to acknowledge the difference).

Another, perhaps simpler, example is 'Transhumanist'. A lot of people 
have simply stopped calling themselves that, because of persistent 
misconceptions about what it means. But I think it's a useful term that 
summarises a whole mindset.

'Extropian' is much less well-known, and always needs to be explained 
anyway, to most people.

Ben
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