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Notes -
Something similar came up during the rootclaim discussion on ACX. See the “Aftermath: debate” section near the end.
I assume the concern is that (if the court system hadn’t stepped in), the Institute for Historical Review could have kept denying any evidence they were given, then kept taunting people with “We’ve offered $50,000 for proof that the Holocaust happened, nobody has ever won our money, so the proof must not exist”. Or Kirsch could keep saying “Nobody will bet me $500,000 on vaccines, guess they’re scared and think they don’t have evidence” (when in fact it’s just that most people don’t have the time, courage, and risk tolerance to do this, especially when there’s no guarantee the right person will win the debate). In order to deny these people this weapon (the argument goes) we need to make it common knowledge that this strategy isn’t legitimate.
So how do you make it clear that your offer is genuine, fair, and thus admissible as evidence? As opposed to all the bad-faith debaters asking why no one will take their rigged bets. If you can’t look credible to the opposition, you won’t get many takers. And if you can’t look credible to the audience, “no one wants to take my bet” remains unconvincing.
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