Watching Scott Alexander try unsuccessfully to grapple with Lacanian thought reminds me of the summer, many many years ago, when I made the same effort. I really did give it my best shot, but in the end decided (a) this is probably total bullshit, and (b) even if it’s not total bullshit, there’s nothing here usable by me. I think that second realization was the really important one, and one that I’ve had often over the years: Sometimes it really doesn’t matter whether a body of thought is valid or not; what matters is whether I, being who I am, placed as I am, can make use of it. And there is literally not one idea in Lacan that I can use. Which is all I need to know.