Brandon_Watson comments on Against Devil's Advocacy - Less Wrong

28 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 09 June 2008 04:15AM

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Comment author: Brandon_Watson 10 June 2008 02:18:06AM 4 points [-]

In order to take a position other than the one supported by the data, we need to ignore the points that make that position invalid.

Perhaps, but devil's advocacy doesn't require taking a position other than the one supported by the data; the phrase "devil's advocate", in fact, suggests that you don't. (Otherwise, you'd simply be an advocate.) The devil's advocate proposes objections for which a position should have answers; this is different from accepting the objections, and certainly different from ignoring the reasons for accepting the position being examined.