You’re right about the comic strip links, or, at least, about the Shortpacked! one—I was being a jerk, and your arguments don’t deserve that. (The xkcd one I would stand by, if it weren’t assuming as true the precise thing we are in disagreement about—in general, the rise of conspiracy theories is only marginally associated with the existence of a conspiracy, and I do consider the controlled demolition story about 9/11 to be a conspiracy theory, but that doesn’t make it false. Particularly given the known track record of the second Bush administration.)
Do you have a Livejournal or Dreamwidth account? Or an OpenID account? Moving the conversation off-site would eliminate the risk of distortions to our individual LessWrong karmas, not to mention we could more easily agree to drop the subject without feeling like we’re letting down our side.
An excellent suggestion, and one which I had been considering making too.
Yes, both—I even set up a DW community not long ago which would be appropriate for further discussion on this topic. (The group itself is heavily under-utilized due to my not having had time to post much, let alone promote it, so this seems like a perfect opportunity to generate some content and discussion.).
I’ve posted a series of blog entries on this subject here, and will be responding to your objections next.
You’re right about the comic strip links, or, at least, about the Shortpacked! one—I was being a jerk, and your arguments don’t deserve that. (The xkcd one I would stand by, if it weren’t assuming as true the precise thing we are in disagreement about—in general, the rise of conspiracy theories is only marginally associated with the existence of a conspiracy, and I do consider the controlled demolition story about 9/11 to be a conspiracy theory, but that doesn’t make it false. Particularly given the known track record of the second Bush administration.)
Do you have a Livejournal or Dreamwidth account? Or an OpenID account? Moving the conversation off-site would eliminate the risk of distortions to our individual LessWrong karmas, not to mention we could more easily agree to drop the subject without feeling like we’re letting down our side.
An excellent suggestion, and one which I had been considering making too.
Yes, both—I even set up a DW community not long ago which would be appropriate for further discussion on this topic. (The group itself is heavily under-utilized due to my not having had time to post much, let alone promote it, so this seems like a perfect opportunity to generate some content and discussion.).
I’ve posted a series of blog entries on this subject here, and will be responding to your objections next.
Excellent—my account name is “packbat” on both. I will read your remarks soon and attempt a reply.
“Packbat”? That is outrageously cute, have a karma point.
(: