christopherj comments on Logical Rudeness - Less Wrong

65 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 29 January 2010 06:48AM

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Comment author: christopherj 16 October 2013 08:14:32PM 0 points [-]

"the exception that proves the rule" seems like a very un-Bayesian thing to say. The implication is that both X and ~X provide evidence for the hypothesis. (Not that I always communicate my actual and complete hypothesis -- sometimes that is a distraction from my main point.)

Comment author: ChrisHallquist 16 October 2013 08:39:57PM 1 point [-]

I think the implication is not that both X and ~X provide evidence for the hypothesis, but rather something like, "yes, there are a few exceptions to the rule, but if you look at what the exceptions are they're so unusual that they just underline the fact that the rule is generally (though not universally) applicable."