Yes, that’s true, I didn’t go into detail on irrelevant side issues, or take up space saying things that a reasonable reader would have assumed anyhow.
That’s for much the same reason that I wouldn’t waste people’s time with Amazon reviews saying nothing but “Well, ACKCHUALLY, two-hose air conditioners are MUCH more efficient (you ignorant plebs).”.
The most reasonable hypothesis is that people know their own priorities better than I do, so I shouldn’t make an ass of myself. Also, of course, even if they’re wrong, I’m unlikely to persuade them, but that’s a separate matter.
You might want to think about why you did not just naturally assume those things.
OK, so let’s say you don’t have any superior knowledge when you state things about air conditioners.
I have adequate knowledge. I am willing to assume that most other buyers of air conditioners also have, or will independently seek out, adequate knowledge. Adequate knowledge includes everything I said.
I was claiming that OP was pontificating based on inadequate knowledge. Less than my own and very possibly less than that of the average Amazon air conditioner buyer. Basically getting a nasty case of engineer’s disease and treating a basic first-order understanding as if it were special expertise, in a context where most other people might very well have understanding superior to OP’s own.
And if buyers did not have “adequate” understanding in the area of efficiency, one very strong candidate explanation for that would be that they didn’t care so much about efficiency compared to other things. Especially because, even if they didn’t understand the whole airflow pattern, they could act on the published efficiency ratings, which take airflow into account. If they’re buying something with a lower numerical headline efficiency rating, then you have to assume that they’re real idiots to arrive at the idea that efficiency is their main concern.
… all of which I would have let pass if smug, arrogant, supercilious dismissiveness were not a common problem that alienates a lot of people from “rationalists” and their viewpoints.
This again goes to illustrate OP and not refute it.
OP claimed, essentially, that the reviews were clueless, and that that was evidence that the average buyer was clueless. That would only be true if clueless people did not disproportionately write reviews, or if you had a whole bunch of other data to let you compensate for the bias.
There no a priori reason to believe that.
In fact, having spent more time than I care to admit reading those reviews, I have come to the conclusion that clueless people do disproportionately write reviews. Usually based on inadequate first-order understanding. But that’s not central to my point, and I will thank you not to whine about my not having mentioned it until now.
Yes, that’s true, I didn’t go into detail on irrelevant side issues, or take up space saying things that a reasonable reader would have assumed anyhow.
That’s for much the same reason that I wouldn’t waste people’s time with Amazon reviews saying nothing but “Well, ACKCHUALLY, two-hose air conditioners are MUCH more efficient (you ignorant plebs).”.
The most reasonable hypothesis is that people know their own priorities better than I do, so I shouldn’t make an ass of myself. Also, of course, even if they’re wrong, I’m unlikely to persuade them, but that’s a separate matter.
You might want to think about why you did not just naturally assume those things.
I have adequate knowledge. I am willing to assume that most other buyers of air conditioners also have, or will independently seek out, adequate knowledge. Adequate knowledge includes everything I said.
I was claiming that OP was pontificating based on inadequate knowledge. Less than my own and very possibly less than that of the average Amazon air conditioner buyer. Basically getting a nasty case of engineer’s disease and treating a basic first-order understanding as if it were special expertise, in a context where most other people might very well have understanding superior to OP’s own.
And if buyers did not have “adequate” understanding in the area of efficiency, one very strong candidate explanation for that would be that they didn’t care so much about efficiency compared to other things. Especially because, even if they didn’t understand the whole airflow pattern, they could act on the published efficiency ratings, which take airflow into account. If they’re buying something with a lower numerical headline efficiency rating, then you have to assume that they’re real idiots to arrive at the idea that efficiency is their main concern.
… all of which I would have let pass if smug, arrogant, supercilious dismissiveness were not a common problem that alienates a lot of people from “rationalists” and their viewpoints.
OP claimed, essentially, that the reviews were clueless, and that that was evidence that the average buyer was clueless. That would only be true if clueless people did not disproportionately write reviews, or if you had a whole bunch of other data to let you compensate for the bias.
There no a priori reason to believe that.
In fact, having spent more time than I care to admit reading those reviews, I have come to the conclusion that clueless people do disproportionately write reviews. Usually based on inadequate first-order understanding. But that’s not central to my point, and I will thank you not to whine about my not having mentioned it until now.