Scott Alexander explores the concept of hyperstitious slurs, showing how words and actions become offensive through belief, and discusses when to adopt new language norms. Longer summary

Scott Alexander discusses the concept of hyperstitious slurs, which are words or phrases that become offensive primarily because people believe they are offensive. He explains how this process works, using examples like the word 'Jap' and 'Negro'. The post then extends this concept to actions, images, and even facts, showing how they can become signals of offensive intent through similar processes. Scott criticizes the unnecessary creation of new slurs, like banning 'field work' in academia, and discusses his personal approach to adopting new language norms. He suggests joining these cascades about 70% of the way through as a compromise between principle and self-preservation. Shorter summary