Profile

Hi, I’m Vanessa!

My user name is a reference to “Kushiel’s Legacy” by Jacqueline Carey, where Elua can be described as a god of Love (in the broad sense), and also to the writings of Scott Alexander where Elua appeared as a personification of liberalism and human values.

The title “Humans First” is intended to have two meanings. First, humans are more important than everything else. Second, we are humans before we are anything else (where “anything else” might be gender, sexuality, political ideology, ethnicity, nationality etc.)

The quote below the title is from Dirge Without Music by Edna St. Vincent Millay.

I’m multiamorous, bisexual and divorced. I have two kids that I adore. Here, I refer to them as Baby and Eldest.

Some principles I believe in:

Human life and happiness is above any ideology
Violence is always a last resort
Debate should be honest and respectful, truth-seeking rather than adversarial

Some things I consider myself to be:

Aspiring rationalist
Aspiring effective altruist
Ethical subjectivist and consequentialist
Classical liberal
Incrementalist
Transhumanist
Antinationalist / Transnationalist
Atheist / Antitheist

I enjoy science fiction, fantasy, speculative romance and speculative erotic fiction. Some of my favorites:

“Outlander” by Diana Gabaldon
“Palimpsest” by Cathrynne M. Valente
“Kushiel’s Legacy” by Jacqueline Carey
“Song of Ice and Fire” by George R.R. Martin
“Permutation City” by Greg Egan

Things about which I know a lot:

Theoretical Computer Science
Mathematics
Physics

Things about which I know a little:

Chemistry
Molecular Biology
Western History

I don’t eat tetrapods (for reasons of ethics) and usually avoid eggs and dairy as well, so I am a veganish pescetarian.

When speaking English, I use the pronoun “ey” to address everyone, regardless of gender and whether cis or trans. I do this because I believe that curtailing the role of gender in language will help us move towards a society that is more gender egalitarian and more accepting of all forms of gender expression. If you are transgender and strongly prefer “she” or “he” over “ey” (even knowing that I use “ey” to address cisgender people), message me and I will do my best to remember.

I speak English, Hebrew and Russian. Occasionally trying to learn French.

I enjoy making friends, so don’t be shy to approach me!