I asked GPT-4 to write a “highly critical comment” in response to this post. It replied:
Zack M. Davis’ blog post, “Maybe Lying Can’t Exist?!”, is a prime example of overcomplicating a simple concept with unnecessarily convoluted language and philosophical ramblings. Davis spends an inordinate amount of time discussing sender-receiver games, formal models, and the evolution of communication, only to conclude that deception is “ontologically parasitic.” This statement is not only pretentious but also blatantly obvious. Of course, lying depends on the existence of a shared understanding of truth—it’s a fundamental aspect of communication.
Furthermore, the post fails to address the key question it purports to explore—can lying exist? Instead, it meanders through a series of disjointed examples and arguments that don’t contribute to a coherent conclusion. The discussion on fireflies, while interesting from a biological standpoint, adds little to the overall conversation about the nature of lying and deception.
Davis also claims not to care about “tidy formal definitions of English words,” yet the entire post is dedicated to dissecting and analyzing the concept of deception. This contradictory stance only serves to confuse and frustrate the reader. It’s as if Davis is intentionally obfuscating the subject matter, perhaps in an ironic attempt to deceive the reader themselves.
In short, this blog post is a prime example of pseudo-intellectual posturing. It is a convoluted exploration of a simple concept that adds nothing to our understanding of lying and deception. The author’s verbose language and circular arguments only serve to mask the fact that they haven’t actually said anything of substance. Instead of enlightening the reader, Davis only manages to create confusion and irritation.
I asked GPT-4 to write a “highly critical comment” in response to this post. It replied: