Relatedly, if someone you know is accused of acting poorly toward another person, the observation that they never act that way toward you may provide nearly zero Bayesian evidence in their favor.
A very common example:
Alice: “My boyfriend is controlling and abusive toward me, and disrespectful of other women.”
Bob: “I don’t believe that. He never acted that way toward me!”
Bob: “Yes, and he’s also only ever been nice to me, but many of our friends report him being bad to them AND being horrible to people who he seems to consider ‘beneath him.’ I trust our friends, and so I’m worried about the possibility that Charlie is specifically kind when he’s around us.”
Alice: “Charlie isn’t the type of person who would do that. I can tell.”
Relatedly, if someone you know is accused of acting poorly toward another person, the observation that they never act that way toward you may provide nearly zero Bayesian evidence in their favor.
A very common example:
Alice: “My boyfriend is controlling and abusive toward me, and disrespectful of other women.”
Bob: “I don’t believe that. He never acted that way toward me!”
Alice: ”...Yeah. Duh. You’re not a woman.”
A related example from my own life:
Bob: “You should be wary of Charlie.“
Alice: “Why? He’s only ever been nice to me!”
Bob: “Yes, and he’s also only ever been nice to me, but many of our friends report him being bad to them AND being horrible to people who he seems to consider ‘beneath him.’ I trust our friends, and so I’m worried about the possibility that Charlie is specifically kind when he’s around us.”
Alice: “Charlie isn’t the type of person who would do that. I can tell.”
Bob: “…”