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Comment by Robin2 on Gary Gygax Annihilated at 69 · 2008-03-07T03:57:09.000Z · LW · GW

Perhaps you could call Gygax a pioneer in developing virtual reality.

Comment by Robin2 on 37 Ways That Words Can Be Wrong · 2008-03-06T07:43:31.000Z · LW · GW

Hmm... while these are all useful guidelines for how to use words, but I don't think all of them define wrong ways of using words. For example "You use a short word for something that you won't need to describe often, or a long word for something you'll need to describe often. This can result in inefficient thinking, or even misapplications of Occam's Razor, if your mind thinks that short sentences sound "simpler"" Which sounds more plausible, "God did a miracle" or "A supernatural universe-creating entity temporarily suspended the laws of physics"? How is either of those sentences wrong? Sure one is longer than the other, but just because somebody doesn't know the word god or wants to explicitly define it doesn't mean they are wrong.

Ultimately, I think somebody can only be wrong when using a word if they contradict their own definition. Any other misusages are probably just using words inefficiently, rather than incorrectly.

Comment by Robin2 on Buy Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace · 2008-02-04T23:59:49.000Z · LW · GW

Has anybody thought of prediction markets as a form of insurance? Suppose you don't like Hillary, then you can bet she wins the nomination. If she doesn't, you're happy because you don't like her. If she does, you win some money, either way you win.

Of course, if people did this it would make prediction markets less accurate.