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Jiro comments on What are your contrarian views? - Less Wrong Discussion

10 Post author: Metus 15 September 2014 09:17AM

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Comment author: Jiro 15 September 2014 03:47:15PM *  2 points [-]

Meta: It is easy to take a position that is held by a significant number of people and exaggerate it to the point where nobody holds the exaggerated version. Does that count as a contrarian opinion (since nobody believes the exaggerated version that was stated) or as a non-contrarian opinion (since people believe the non-exaggerated version)?

(Edit: This is not intended to be a controversial opinion. It's meta.)

Comment author: gjm 15 September 2014 04:58:39PM 3 points [-]

My understanding is that the idea is to post opinions you actually hold that count as contrarian.

Comment author: Jiro 15 September 2014 05:23:54PM 4 points [-]

I was mostly thinking of the one about open borders. Hardly anyone thinks that open borders would destroy civilization, but that's an exaggerated version of "open borders are a bad idea". If I disagree that they would destroy civilization, but I agree that they are a bad idea, should I treat it as a contrarian opinion or a non-contrarian opinion?

Furthermore, it sounds like that would not qualify as "opinions you actually hold" unless the poster thought it would destroy civilization.

Comment author: Azathoth123 16 September 2014 01:16:14AM 5 points [-]

Hardly anyone thinks that open borders would destroy civilization,

Really? I consider it obvious for a sufficiently strong definition of "open boarders".

Also it wouldn't completely destroy civilization because the open boarders aspect would collapse before all of civilization did.