On knottiness, technocracy’s bad rep, and phrases only Obama can use

2021, Week 4 Musings

Knotty homonyms: Earlier this week, I tried to say the word knotty in a sentence for the first time, which I know because I was instantly confronted with the novel fear that perhaps everybody who was listening to me may have misunderstood me to be saying naughty. A knotty problem is quite different from a naughty problem, although a problem can be both knotty and naughty. I have since mused that there is a relevant subset of homonyms that can cause dangerous misinterpretations, and so should be singled out conceptually and avoided in general conversation. I propose they be called naughty homonyms.

Let me be clear: The phrase let me be clear should be canceled in normal conversation and/or Twitter, for anybody who isn’t Obama, Bernie, or another reputable politician. Assuming that others also associate this phrase with the gravitas of a Resolute Desk address, most must agree that the phrase sounds embarrassing when put in front of the utterances of plebeians like ourselves. One might as well be saying, let me undercut the seriousness of what I am about to say with undeserved presidential pithiness. Have I made myself clear?

Technocracy: Scott Alexander (previously of Slate Star Codex, now Astral Codex Ten) posted a great essay called Contra Weyl on Technocracy, a rebuttal of Why I Am Not a Technocrat by Glen Weyl. These are definitely worth reading and I generally don’t have much to add. In the same boat as…