Metadata
- Author: Paul Graham
- URL: http://www.paulgraham.com/identity.html
- Read in: 2021
Notes
I think what religion and politics have in common is that they become part of people’s identity, and people can never have a fruitful argument about something that’s part of their identity. By definition they’re partisan.
- This why you should keep your identity small if you want to have a thoughtful discussion about these topics
Most people reading this will already be fairly tolerant. But there is a step beyond thinking of yourself as x but tolerating y: not even to consider yourself an x. The more labels you have for yourself, the dumber they make you.
- Actually, this why so many online communities, e.g. Twitter or 4chan suck, quite important