tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3082331.post6403136942493174375..comments2023-12-22T15:39:43.656-07:00Comments on debitage: The Tenacity Of RationalizationStentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3082331.post-64768303569318373452008-06-20T13:43:00.000-07:002008-06-20T13:43:00.000-07:00If you have bad mental math skills, there are wall...If you have bad mental math skills, there are wallet-carry cards that list 15% of fifty-cent increments. There's no substitute for skillful social interaction, and for some people, the celing of what they could achieve with concentrated effort and training isn't high enough to pass for 'normal' on a crowded bus. <BR/><BR/>However, I'd say this is irrelevant. There is no such thing as a moral duty to socialize or engage in small talk. If you can talk to a plumber without using classist insults, and refrain from actively interfering with his work, you've furfilled your moral duty.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3082331.post-21473094149776661922008-06-20T12:02:00.000-07:002008-06-20T12:02:00.000-07:00Anonymous: For some things, aptitude is not an exc...Anonymous: For some things, aptitude is not an excuse. I don't have much aptitude for mental math, but that doesn't mean I can go around under-tipping waitstaff. If I have low aptitude for something but also a moral duty to do it, I have to suck it up and work harder rather than penalizing others for my genes.<BR/><BR/>Alon: I think your reductio is actually potentially a sound argument. Certain jobs require certain skills, and if your job options are limited, you can't just say "oh, I'm not very good at that, so I'll just go find a different job."Stentorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3082331.post-43433822491288646382008-06-20T11:23:00.000-07:002008-06-20T11:23:00.000-07:00If introversion is a privilege, everything is. Peo...If introversion is a privilege, everything is. People in sales and marketing need to be able to be extroverted. Similarly, cashiers need to be able to do arithmetic quickly, waiters and other servers need to be fluent in the local language (more than one, in many touristy areas) and have good memory, and menial laborers need physical strength and good hand-eye coordination.<BR/><BR/>One can imagine the anti-rationalization voice say that introversion is a privilege; one can't imagine it say that clumsiness, not knowing math, and not knowing the local language well are privileges.Alon Levyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12195377309045184452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3082331.post-30887251708199071922008-06-20T11:13:00.000-07:002008-06-20T11:13:00.000-07:00Social interaction is a learned skill -- a skill y...<I>Social interaction is a learned skill -- a skill you can choose to learn, or choose to not learn because you've got something else oh-so-important to spend your time doing</I><BR/><BR/>I'd say your italizcised voice falls down right there. Social interaction is a learned skill to some extent, but the voice disregards the importance of natural aptitude. For someone with very low natural aptitude for social interaction, who doesn't get pleasure from social interaction, the cost-benefit ratio is such that spending the time learning things they're good at, enjoy, and find more useful, is the rational choice. <BR/><BR/>Also: maybe the plumber does want to engagew is small talk, but maybe he *does* want to be left alone to do his job. You're not psychic. If he wants to talk, he can initiate it; otherwise, the assumption he'd rather be left alone is a good one. <BR/><BR/>(I also note that many of the commentators in that post suggested talking to the plumber *about his work*, which is, by my standards, not "small talk" at all! It's serious intellectual engagement! )Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3082331.post-10738887655388493572008-06-20T08:15:00.000-07:002008-06-20T08:15:00.000-07:00I would temper this with being male too. If you we...I would temper this with being male too. If you were female and had polite small talk with the plumber, it could be construed as flirting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com