Jacob’s example is presumably a caricature, but even then, with a little charity, I can empathize with Someone. Here’s how I might translate the debate:
Someone: I believe hypothesis “most people buy cows” is most likely, therefore “cash-transfers are good”.
Jacobian: Really? I believe hypothesis “most people buy food” is more likely (presumably I’m saying this to imply “cash-transfers are bad”)
Someone: I don’t agree that hypothesis “most people buy food” implies “cash-transfers are bad”.
Ideally, the two people would do battle until they agree on the values of P(“most people buy cows”) and P(“most people buy food”), but that would take a lot of work, and if they don’t agree on the implications of those hypotheses, there is no point in it. The reply “I don’t think your counterargument disagrees with my conclusion” is reasonable. It is based on the assumption that Jacobian really was disagreeing with the conclusion, rather than just the argument. This assumption is both easy to make and easy to correct though.
Jacob’s example is presumably a caricature, but even then, with a little charity, I can empathize with Someone. Here’s how I might translate the debate:
Someone: I believe hypothesis “most people buy cows” is most likely, therefore “cash-transfers are good”.
Jacobian: Really? I believe hypothesis “most people buy food” is more likely (presumably I’m saying this to imply “cash-transfers are bad”)
Someone: I don’t agree that hypothesis “most people buy food” implies “cash-transfers are bad”.
Ideally, the two people would do battle until they agree on the values of P(“most people buy cows”) and P(“most people buy food”), but that would take a lot of work, and if they don’t agree on the implications of those hypotheses, there is no point in it. The reply “I don’t think your counterargument disagrees with my conclusion” is reasonable. It is based on the assumption that Jacobian really was disagreeing with the conclusion, rather than just the argument. This assumption is both easy to make and easy to correct though.
Or another way to put it, is that “someone” unskillfully said “the argument I offered is not a crux for me.”