Rationalist taboo
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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.
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Other posts
- Disputing Definitions - An example of how the technique helps.
- Words as Hidden Inferences - The mere presence of words can influence thinking, sometimes misleading it.
- Detached Lever Fallacy - There is a lot of machinery hidden beneath the words, and rationalist's taboo is one way to make a step towards exposing it.