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PaperclipPerfector  8mo ago (text post)   21604 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of February 14, 2024

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I think you are trying to be fair, but agree with the people pointing out that going up against a lawyer and experienced podcaster is not a fair fight if you don't have experience in that kind of venue. I mean, I am pretty convinced that the theory of evolution is true and young earth creationism is not, and I think I understand the science well enough to argue that from an educated position, but I am neither a public debater nor a scientist, and if I debated a professional young earth creationist who runs a podcast "debunking" evolution, I expect I'd be made to look like a fool.

I don't believe I gained any super powers from being a lawyer, and I reached my positions with access to the exact same resources that anyone else has. But whatever advantages I may have I would assume are mitigated by sharing resources ahead of time and the 1v3 format. I'm open to other suggestions. I also think it's perfectly ok/commendable for people to admit they're incapable of defending their beliefs, but keep in mind that the three I tagged have made confident assertions about my dishonesty and bad faith on this particular topic. Unless someone is making a baseless accusation, I have to assume it's based on some evidence and that they would be eager for an opportunity to establish the validity of their beliefs.

It's not a super power but your setting the domain rules to favor other trained lawyers over people less familiar with legal procedures.

How do the rules favor other trained lawyers, and what changes would you suggest?

It's not a thing you can change by just modifying a few conditions. The only meaningful way to get rid of the advantage of being a trained lawyer is to find an opponent who's also a trained lawyer or equivalent.

This incessant insistence on "if you REALLY were serious, you'd do it at a time and place and under circumstances of my choosing" is as annoying as rationalists insisting "if you REALLY were serious, you'd bet money".

The objection was on the rules themselves, not just that I'm a trained lawyer. I'm trying to separate the earnest objections versus the pretextual excuses from those unwilling to have their beliefs scrutinized. If someone objects to the rules but then offers no alternatives, I have nothing to go off.

Nobody can possibly give an exhaustive list of all the ways in which the rules can advantage a trained lawyer. Asking for them to give a list of rule objections just leads to a situation where they left one out or didn't phrase their objection properly, and you go "Ha ha, well now you admitted in advance the rules are okay, so I can do anything I want that you didn't mention, and you have no reason to complain".

It's just like the situation with rationalist bets, except instead of "you're probably not going to phrase the bet in a way free of loopholes" it's "you're probably not going to phrase your objection to the rules in a way free of loopholes".

I never asked for an exhaustive list, I just want some specifics on why the rules are unfair rather than just proclaiming they're unfair for unspecified reasons. Someone who knows their beliefs will crumble when it encounters a stiff breeze of scrutiny has an incentive to make up whatever excuse to keep them safeguarded, so I need some method to discern who has earnest objections and who's just making shit up.

To really even things up, would you be willing to suffer some light head trauma?

Just to make things fair here.

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