This public exercise, where two smart people hunt for the roots of their disagreement on a complex issue, has the potential to be the coolest thing I've seen yet on this blog. I wonder if it's actually possible -- there are so many ways that it could go wrong, humans being what they are. I really appreciate the two of you giving it a try.

Not that you asked for people to take shots from the cheap seats, but Eliezer, your ending question: "I mean... is that really what you want to go with here?" comes across (to me at least) as an unnecessarily belligerent way to proceed, likely to lead the process in unfortunate directions. It's not an argument to win, with points to score.