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Culture War Roundup for the week of October 17, 2022

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I don't see how it makes "no sense" that the order of outcomes which best achieves a general tolerance for a wide range of opinions here is quite obviously none at all > lower verdict > higher verdict. Seems like pretty basic logic to me.

It doesn't make sense to argue in favor of A, get a response pointing out that the current law is perfectly consistent with A, and then say, "how can you say that current law is consistent with B?"

Let's say a jury renders a verdict that declares that 5,000 puppies must be brutally executed (ignoring the likely illegality of this for the sake of the hypothetical). Now imagine this dialogue:

Person A: Wow, that's a ridiculous amount of puppies. We really need a society that values adorable puppies more.

Person B: Don't worry as there are statutes for reducing excessive puppy executions. It could very well be far less than 5,000 puppies executed.

Person A: Well, okay, but that's still pretty bad.

Person B: Wow, you're making no sense now. You were advocating for less puppies being executed, not no puppies. Why aren't you happy?

Your objection makes you resemble Person B in this dialogue in my evaluation. Do you see why you might perhaps sound unreasonable?

Dude, I said: "Yes, of course you can, but the point is, you weren't." My point is not that your statements are logically inconsistent, but rather that your statement made no sense as a response to what I said. For example"

In particular, unlike Person A, you did NOT say, "but that's still pretty bad." The conversation was: You: the monetary award should be reduced. Me: The system is set up to do exactly what you want. You: What do you mean? I think the jury should have found in favor of Jones. That is fine, but it is not what you initially claimed. So, do you see why you might perhaps sound unreasonable?

I'm sorry dude, but you are exhibiting exactly why the "rationalist" community often has a terrible reputation for autistic (and usually incorrect/nonsensical, as in this case) nitpicking and an inability to comprehend basic context, and given that trying to make somebody so committed to being so dense understand is usually as annoying as trying to shave a tiny but ornery chihuahua's balls without hurting them, especially on this site with its rules, I'm afraid that I can't engage with you any further.

But I'll give you one hint: I never once said that the monetary award should be merely reduced. That is simply not in my posts at all. I know, because I just reread them to see if maybe I gave that misleading impression. Rather, I merely expressed that I thought the verdict was too much, and you somehow autistically interpreted that to mean that I could only have a reduced verdict and not no verdict (or no case at all) as my highest preference, even though that doesn't fit any reasonable model of human behavior.

You do realize that people who prefer less X often prefer no X even to that, and that this is not any sort of a contradiction even if your mental model is that their prior statements only implied less X, right? Again, that's basic behavior. If someone says "There's hundreds of roaches in here!", reducing the number to only 50 probably isn't going to completely satisfy them still. There's a good chance they prefer zero. You might disagree, but their response isn't surprising or nonsensical.

I am not attempting to sneer or insult you at all when I link this (especially since, like most people on this site, I'm sure I'm not entirely off the spectrum, though not to the level demonstrated): https://exceptionalindividuals.com/candidates/neurodiversity-resources/neurodiversity-quizzes/aspergers-quiz-test/ You're displaying a genuinely high and concerning degree of communicative obtuseness.

TBH, I think you are the one who is exhibiting those tendencies, when you say, "I didn't say the award should be reduced! I said it was too much."

You know, I incorrectly paraphrased myself. I didn't even say it was "too much" initially. I said it was "insane". Again, the fact that you think that only a reduced amount of X and not no X could follow from somebody saying that an amount of X is "insane" is on you.

I neither think nor said that, and in fact said the exact opposite: "My point is not that your statements are logically inconsistent, but rather that your statement made no sense as a response to what I said."

And, the fact that you think there is a meaningful difference between "the amount is too high" and "the amount is insane" is, as you say, on you.