TimFreeman comments on On Being Okay with the Truth - Less Wrong

33 Post author: lukeprog 02 May 2011 12:17AM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (71)

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: TimFreeman 03 May 2011 04:21:20PM *  4 points [-]

Sorry, if that's all you have, it's not what I'm looking for. What evil did he stop doing because he converted to Christianity? The worst things I see in the biography there were teaching rhetoric and waiting patiently for his 11 year old fiancee to turn 13 so he could marry her. Those activities were both consistent with cultural norms of the time. Neither of seem to have the right flavor to make me to want to try arguing morality with someone who is pointing a gun at my head.

Comment author: JohnH 03 May 2011 04:38:11PM 3 points [-]

He also gave up sleeping with various mistresses, however, given current culture, I doubt you think that is evil.

Arguing morality with someone who is holding a gun to your head doesn't sound like a very smart thing to do. The most I have done while being held up was provide the assailant a set of scriptures with a number to call if he wanted to discuss morality while not holding a gun. If they are holding a gun or otherwise threatening current violence to you then that is usually not the time to be discussing morality as they are most likely not acting rationally.

Discussing morality with someone that is suicidal can sometimes help. Still, one should call for professional assistance if it is available.

Comment author: handoflixue 06 May 2011 08:11:35PM 1 point [-]

One problem with arguing rationality with someone who as a gun to your head is time: a rational argument for a substantial change tends to take a fair amount of time. You might be able to convince someone with quick "sound bites", but I'm not sure I'd really call that a rational argument.