I also liked this essay very much. Many times it has occurred to me that “There are people who may claim to believe in Y, but deep down they know just as well as everyone else that Y is not true.”
I would add that our conversation with the hypothetical dragon claimant is not likely to get to the point where you are discussing bags of flour. Because by that point he will probably be extremely angry with you and one way or another the conversation will be concluded.
As the old joke goes, “Shut up, she explained.”
Actually I think it was Steve Sailer who pointed out that with any highly controversial issue, there is likely to be some truth floating around which people do not want to face. Arguably it’s the same concept.
I also liked this essay very much. Many times it has occurred to me that “There are people who may claim to believe in Y, but deep down they know just as well as everyone else that Y is not true.”
I would add that our conversation with the hypothetical dragon claimant is not likely to get to the point where you are discussing bags of flour. Because by that point he will probably be extremely angry with you and one way or another the conversation will be concluded.
As the old joke goes, “Shut up, she explained.”
Actually I think it was Steve Sailer who pointed out that with any highly controversial issue, there is likely to be some truth floating around which people do not want to face. Arguably it’s the same concept.
I would also note that if your conversation with the dragon claimant took place on Less Wrong, he would probably just downvote you. ;)