I used to participate in talk.origins—a creation vs evolution forum. For reasons which now escape me, I took a moderate creationist position in a mock debate for a few days. Though that exercise did not produce enough ‘distance’ to convert me, I discovered that, for months thereafter, I was noticing minor flaws in evolutionist arguments that I had never noticed before.
It might prove to be an interesting exercise if one of the giants here—Eliezer, or Anna, or Wei Dai—were to try to argue against one of the LW orthodox positions under the guise of a sock puppet. It could be a good test of how well us lesser folk understand the justification for the positions we hold. And, it might be a useful stretching exercise for the ‘giant’.
Some practical examples would be very useful.
I used to participate in talk.origins—a creation vs evolution forum. For reasons which now escape me, I took a moderate creationist position in a mock debate for a few days. Though that exercise did not produce enough ‘distance’ to convert me, I discovered that, for months thereafter, I was noticing minor flaws in evolutionist arguments that I had never noticed before.
It might prove to be an interesting exercise if one of the giants here—Eliezer, or Anna, or Wei Dai—were to try to argue against one of the LW orthodox positions under the guise of a sock puppet. It could be a good test of how well us lesser folk understand the justification for the positions we hold. And, it might be a useful stretching exercise for the ‘giant’.