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STL comments on does imagining +singularity cause depression? - Less Wrong
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Comments (21)
Betteridge's law of headlines.
While I answer this question with a 'No' I can certainly imagine someone asking it as a sincere question---I would even accept "yes" as an example if it was sufficiently qualified with disclaimers regarding frequency and degree of causal influence.
This question is also only a short step away from a question "Does being exposed to a basilisk cause anxiety disorders?" which is another question I would answer with no but which some may answer 'yes'. I would call them silly questions but perhaps for not quite the same problem as the typical Betteridgesque flaw. (I still upvoted your comment. It's applicable and damn good as a heuristic!)
but if i'd used 'can' the answer would be 'yes'.
But you didn't. Perhaps because that sounds less interesting. The law doesn't say that it is impossible to ask a question whose answer is yes in a headline, it says that people usually don't.
Betteridge's law only works when you help it work.