A semanticSemantic stopsign or curiosity stopper is a meaningless generic explanation that creates an illusion of giving an answer, without actually explaining anything, or even introducing a fallacious connotation.anything. Semantic stopsigns destroy curiosity, giving surrogate answers and stopping the search for truth prematurely. Can preserve incorrect beliefs for a long time, insisting on following cached thought without rethinking anything. A tool of dark arts and important part of any anti-epistemology.
When specific words act as stopsigns, placing a Rationalistrationalist taboo andon them may help. Least convenient possible worldEpistemic hygiene are techniques useful for fighting semantic stopsigns.allows to exclude some of the stopsigns raised by partial arguers or your own cognitive biases.
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Semanticsemantic stopsign or curiosity stopper is ameaninglessmeaningless, generic explanation that createsanthe illusion of giving an answer, without actually explaining anything. Semantic stopsigns destroy curiosity, giving surrogate answers and stopping the search for truth prematurely. Can preserve incorrect beliefs for a long time, insisting on following cached thought without rethinking anything. A tool of dark arts and an important part of any anti-epistemology.When specific words act as stopsigns, placing a rationalist taboo on them may help. Epistemic hygiene allows
to excludeexcluding some of the stopsigns raised by partial arguers or by your own cognitive biases.