Taboo Your Words

Playing the game of Taboo—being able to describe without using the standard pointer/​label/​handle—is one of the fundamental rationalist capacities. It occupies the same primordial level as the habit of constantly asking “Why?” or “What does this belief make me anticipate?”

The art is closely related to:

• Pragmatism, because seeing in this way often gives you a much closer connection to anticipated experience, rather than propositional belief;
• Reductionism, because seeing in this way often forces you to drop down to a lower level of organization, look at the parts instead of your eye skipping over the whole;
• Hugging the query, because words often distract you from the question you really want to ask;
• Avoiding cached thoughts, which will rush in using standard words, so you can block them by tabooing standard words;
• The writer’s rule of “Show, don’t tell!”, which has power among rationalists;
• And not losing sight of your original purpose.

—www.greaterwrong.com/posts/GKfPL6LQFgB49FEnv/replace-the-symbol-with-the-substance?hide-nav-bars=true

What links here

• Rationality techniques
• *Taboo Your Words