JoshuaZ comments on On Debates with Trolls - Less Wrong

22 Post author: prase 12 April 2011 08:46AM

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Comment author: JoshuaZ 15 April 2011 09:45:50PM *  2 points [-]

I know what he thinks: he agrees with me.

I'm skeptical of the claim about Deutsch. Why not actually test it? A Popperian should try to poke holes in his ideas. Note also that you seem to be missing Jim's point: Jim is making an observation about the level of emotionalism in your argument, not the correctness. These are distinct issues.

As another suggestion, we could take a bunch of people who have epistemologies that are radically different from either Popper or Bayes. From my friends who aren't involved in these issues, I could easily get an Orthodox Jew, a religious Muslim, and a conspiracy theorist. That also handles your concern about a sample size of 1. Other options include other Orthodox Jews including one who supports secular monarchies as the primary form of government, and a math undergrad who is a philosophical skeptic. Or if you want to have some real fun, we could get some regulars from the Flat Earth Forum. A large number of them self-identify as "zetetic" which in this context means something like only accepting evidence that is from one's own sensory observation.

Not a single one of them considers it plausible my position on this stuff is a matter of emotions.

Jim is not suggesting that your position is "a matter of emotions"- he's suggesting that you are being emotional. Note that these aren't the same thing. For example, one could hypothetically have a conversation between a biologist and a creationist about evolution and the biologist could get quite angry with the creationist remaining calm. In that case, the biologist believes what they do due to evidence, but they could still be unproductively emotional about how they present that evidence.

Comment author: curi 17 April 2011 04:26:34AM -2 points [-]

From sibling:

Maybe by pointing it out in this case, you will be able to learn something. Do you think so?

Shall I take this as a no?

Comment author: JoshuaZ 18 April 2011 02:04:44AM 0 points [-]

You've already been told that you made that the point of Jim's remark was about the emotionalism in your remarks, not about the correctness of your arguments. In that context, your sibling comment is utterly irrelevant. The fact that you still haven't gotten that point is of course further evidence of that problem. We are well past the point where there's any substantial likelyhood of productive conversation. Please go away. If you feel a need to come back, do so later, a few months from now when you are confident you can do so without either insulting people, deliberately trolling, and are willing to actually listen to what people here have to say.

Comment author: curi 18 April 2011 03:00:58AM -2 points [-]

So you say things that are false, and then you think the appropriate follow up is to rant about me?