# Apply a reversal test to identify applause lights In conversation, we often use [*phatic expressions*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phatic_expression), ie, communication which serves a social function and bears no intrinsic informational value. There is an equivalent concept in speeches: meaningless expressions which have the same purpose as *applause lights*. For instance, let us imagine that Alice says: "We should balance the advantages and the drawbacks of solution X." This sentence should sound fair to anyone, and the speaker might even be *applauded* for saying it. But, when we reverse it, it becomes "We should not balance the advantages and the drawbacks of solution X," which, by contrast, sounds quite abnormal. Therefore, the original sentence had to be rather *normal*, and therefore did not warrant much more appreciation than the "Ladies and gentlemen" in the introduction. That is not to say that every sentence of a speech should be informative; such a talk would probably be unbearably dry. Nevertheless, applause lights should be taken for what they are, and nothing more. --- ## 📚 References - Yudkowsky, Eliezer. [Applause Lights — LessWrong.](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/dLbkrPu5STNCBLRjr/applause-lights)