I don’t think alternative stories have negligible probability
Okay! Good clarification.
I think it’s good to discuss norms about how appropriate it is to bring up cynical hypotheses about someone during a discussion in which they’re present.
To clarify, my comment wasn’t specific to the case where the person is present. There are obvious reasons why the consideration should get extra weight when the person is present, but there’s also a reason to give it extra weight if none of the people discussed are present—namely that they won’t be able to correct any incorrect claims if they’re not around.
so I think it went fine
Agree.
(As I mentioned in the original comment, the point I made was not specific to the details of this case, but noted as a general policy. But yes, in this specific case it went fine.)
Okay! Good clarification.
To clarify, my comment wasn’t specific to the case where the person is present. There are obvious reasons why the consideration should get extra weight when the person is present, but there’s also a reason to give it extra weight if none of the people discussed are present—namely that they won’t be able to correct any incorrect claims if they’re not around.
Agree.
(As I mentioned in the original comment, the point I made was not specific to the details of this case, but noted as a general policy. But yes, in this specific case it went fine.)