You're looking at Less Wrong's discussion board. This includes all posts, including those that haven't been promoted to the front page yet. For more information, see About Less Wrong.

MrMind comments on Open Thread March 21 - March 27, 2016 - Less Wrong Discussion

3 Post author: Gunnar_Zarncke 20 March 2016 07:54PM

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

Comments (160)

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

Comment author: Bound_up 21 March 2016 09:47:37PM *  3 points [-]

I'm making a list of common arguments that can all be resolved in the same way the "tree falls in a forest, does it make a sound" argument can be resolved.

Namely, by tabooing a key word and substituting a non-ambiguous, comprehensive description, and then finding out you were never disagreeing about anything in the first place.

Examples so far:

Is Islam a "religion of peace?"

Is there a "wall of separation between Church and State" in the US?

Is America a "Christian nation?"

Are Catholics/Mormons/Jehovah's Witnesses/etc "Christian?"

"Should" women take preventative measures against sexual assault?

Is atheism a "religion?"

Any others you can think of?

Comment author: MrMind 22 March 2016 09:13:54AM 0 points [-]

How about "black people are less intelligent"/"asians are more intelligent"?