Another interpretation: Try to figure out which side has more intelligent defenders and control for that when evaluating arguments. (On the other hand, the fact that all the smart people seem to believe X should probably be seen as evidence too...)
Yes, argument screens off authority, but that assumes that you’re in a universe where it’s possible to know everything and think of everything, I suspect. If one side is much more creative about coming up with clever arguments in support of itself (much better than you), who should you believe if the clever side also has all the best arguments?
Another interpretation: Try to figure out which side has more intelligent defenders and control for that when evaluating arguments.
Isn’t the real problem here that the author of the quote was asking the wrong question, namely “Mormonism or non-Mormon Christianity?” when he should have been asking “Theism or atheism?” I don’t see how controlling for which side had the more intelligent defenders in the former debate would have helped him better get to the truth. (I mean that may well be the right thing to do in general, but this doesn’t seem to be a very good example for illustrating it.)
That may be too much to ask for. Besides, if the horse evidence had worked, you’d be forced to turn around and apply it to Jesus...it may not have worked for her, but it has worked on some theists.
That’s just not very correct. There are no external errors in measuring probability, seeing as the unit and measure comes from internal processes. Errors in perceptions of reality and errors in evaluating the strength of an argument will invariably come from oneself, or alternatively from ambiguity in the argument itself (which would make it a worse argument anyway).
Intelligent people do make bad ideas seem more believable and stupid people do make good ideas seem less believable, but you can still expect the intelligent people to be right more often. Otherwise, what you’re describing as intelligence… ain’t. That doesn’t mean you should believe something just because a smart person said it—just that you shouldn’t believe it less.
It’s going back to the entire reverse stupidity thing. Trying to make yourself unbiased by compensating in the opposite direction doesn’t remove the bias—you’re still adjusting from the baseline it’s established.
On a similar note, I may just have given you an uncharitable reading and assumed you meant something you didn’t. Such a misunderstanding won’t adjust the truth of what I’m saying about what I’d be reading into your words, and it won’t adjust the truth of what you were actually trying to say. Even if there’s a bias on my part, it skews perception rather than reality.
Another interpretation: Try to figure out which side has more intelligent defenders and control for that when evaluating arguments. (On the other hand, the fact that all the smart people seem to believe X should probably be seen as evidence too...)
Yes, argument screens off authority, but that assumes that you’re in a universe where it’s possible to know everything and think of everything, I suspect. If one side is much more creative about coming up with clever arguments in support of itself (much better than you), who should you believe if the clever side also has all the best arguments?
Isn’t the real problem here that the author of the quote was asking the wrong question, namely “Mormonism or non-Mormon Christianity?” when he should have been asking “Theism or atheism?” I don’t see how controlling for which side had the more intelligent defenders in the former debate would have helped him better get to the truth. (I mean that may well be the right thing to do in general, but this doesn’t seem to be a very good example for illustrating it.)
That may be too much to ask for. Besides, if the horse evidence had worked, you’d be forced to turn around and apply it to Jesus...it may not have worked for her, but it has worked on some theists.
That’s just not very correct. There are no external errors in measuring probability, seeing as the unit and measure comes from internal processes. Errors in perceptions of reality and errors in evaluating the strength of an argument will invariably come from oneself, or alternatively from ambiguity in the argument itself (which would make it a worse argument anyway).
Intelligent people do make bad ideas seem more believable and stupid people do make good ideas seem less believable, but you can still expect the intelligent people to be right more often. Otherwise, what you’re describing as intelligence… ain’t. That doesn’t mean you should believe something just because a smart person said it—just that you shouldn’t believe it less.
It’s going back to the entire reverse stupidity thing. Trying to make yourself unbiased by compensating in the opposite direction doesn’t remove the bias—you’re still adjusting from the baseline it’s established.
On a similar note, I may just have given you an uncharitable reading and assumed you meant something you didn’t. Such a misunderstanding won’t adjust the truth of what I’m saying about what I’d be reading into your words, and it won’t adjust the truth of what you were actually trying to say. Even if there’s a bias on my part, it skews perception rather than reality.