gwern comments on Open Thread, October 13 - 19, 2013 - Less Wrong

4 Post author: Coscott 14 October 2013 01:57AM

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

Comments (247)

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

Comment author: gwern 16 October 2013 09:15:20PM 8 points [-]

We seem to like "protecting" ought by making false claims about what is.

Possibly related to the halo or overjustification effects; arguments as soldiers seems especially applicable - admitting that torture may actually work is stabbing one's other anti-torture arguments in the back.