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[Opinions] Re: How different do you think name recognize and evaluation on this site is from real life?
I think it is different.
I think the frequency of common & popular names speaks for itself and tells you that a lot of people like them, and their unpopularity on this board tells you that the people who post here are not a representative sample.But also, I think when people respond to names in the abstract, as just names for people - it's very often different, a different thing, from responding to them as the names of individuals. At the very least a difference is that when we see a name with no person attached, it's a prompt for association and imagination, taste and emotion. But when we meet a person with a name attached, we also have to attend to how the person's name names a real person. So it sort of feels to me like, when I have met people with a name, it's more "everyday" and real, and my abstract responses to it as a word seem to matter less, or at least be more "about" how a name is used in real life. But when I am looking at names for the sake of doing so, all there is about it, are associations and responses and imagined characters & scenarios. So it seems that much more interesting and full of possibilities.- mirfak
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