@reasonisfun Hopefully maybe soon, but I haven’t done any work on that page since 2007, so possibly not very soon. (I still care about all the parts of the book and “intend” to finish them, but get <10% time for writing, so most of it may never happen.)
However, I can answer questions :)
However, I can answer questions :)
@reasonisfun So a meta explanation first, addressing possible confusions… this is not “ordinary language philosophy” so it’s not analyzing how people use the word “special” (although that may be helpful). It’s pointing at a “stance” meaning a complex of thoughts, feelings, and ways of acting
@reasonisfun The particular stance this “special” wants to point at is something like “chosen by Destiny,” although not always *quite* so grandiose as that phrase.
@reasonisfun However, it’s inherently contrastive. There are those who are special, and those who are ordinary. Everyone cannot be Chosen, because then there’s no choosing going on. As the way the stance works in practice, it seems only a small minority can be special.
@reasonisfun In practice, it seems that the claim “everyone is special” is rarely used sincerely. Typically it is patronizing. It is used by people in the “helping professions” who, in fact, see the people they are “helping” as defective.
@reasonisfun It’s probably often well-intentioned, an attempt to advocate for dignity for the marginalized, but it’s a transparent euphemism that doesn’t fool anyone, so it’s probably counter-productive.
@reasonisfun A related misuse is egalitarian: everyone is special “in their own way”, meaning that there is something unique everyone is best (or exceptionally good) at.
@reasonisfun This is probably factually false, and in any case doesn’t support its intended agenda, because no one cares if you are the best person in the world at sticking grapes up your nose with your tongue.
@reasonisfun “Everyone is special” (a “muddled middle” in my jargon) shares with the actual specialness stance a confusion of factual and moral equality. People aren’t factually equal (a concrete and obvious fact). People are morally equal (an abstract, difficult, non-obvious claim).
@reasonisfun So then to specialness itself. In virtue of what are you special? When you adopt the stance, usually there is something factual that seems to confirm it.
@reasonisfun For example, when I fall into it, there’s the fact that I am exceptionally smart. Or it could be that you are beautiful, rich, popular, famous, well-born, etc. If you find yourself mentally reviewing the evidence for one such, you know that you’re doing the stance.
@reasonisfun Perhaps for some that’s sufficient, for a while; but everyone knows those factors are transient, mostly a matter of luck, and anyway are external to your core self, rather than being about who you, uniquely, actually are.
@reasonisfun Being rich or whatever doesn’t make you feel special in the way that matters. Your core self is actually just the same as those of ordinary people. Ordinary people may treat you as special, which is nice, but you know you aren't, and feel fake. This is unsatisfactory.
@reasonisfun You may come to realize that no mundane facts, no matter how extreme, could actually make you special; they’re just contingent.
What you need is transcendent, metaphysical specialness. You need to be Chosen by the Cosmic Plan.
What you need is transcendent, metaphysical specialness. You need to be Chosen by the Cosmic Plan.
@reasonisfun (I'm working through the logic of this to make it clear; my guess is most people don't reason it out so explicitly. Instead they are likely to inherit the stance of specialness from parents or pick it up from works of fiction (where it's extremely common as fantasy fulfillment).)
@reasonisfun The problem here is that there is no Cosmic Plan, which makes it difficult for you to figure out exactly what it means for it to have Chosen you. One common way to try to make this work is to decide you have been given a special Mission: meaningness.com/purpose
@reasonisfun Another approach is to heighten your uniqueness by exaggerating eccentricities and character quirks and attributing Special Meaningfulness to them.
Both these approaches are harmful, although they can motivate genuine & valuable accomplishments too.
Both these approaches are harmful, although they can motivate genuine & valuable accomplishments too.
@reasonisfun You can't create a Cosmic Plan, because you are human, material, and about two meters in your largest dimension, and the Cosmos is divine, metaphysical, and about 10^16 meters in its physical emanation.
Unfortunately, it won't accept your Plan. Partly because it doesn't exist.
Unfortunately, it won't accept your Plan. Partly because it doesn't exist.
@reasonisfun You can create a plan for yourself, or for yourself and other people. That's a merely ordinary thing to do, though. It doesn't make you special, no matter how ambitious it is. Also, reality mostly doesn't cooperate with plans.
@reasonisfun When you realize trying to convince yourself that you are special doesn’t work, there’s several directions you can go. One is to try to be ordinary, which is also a bad idea.
@reasonisfun Better is to try to be “noble,” which means dropping the whole question of personal value and life-role, losing interest in the meaning of Me, and doing what you can to be useful for other people, for their sake, rather than for what it proves about Me.
