So, I like this comment (and strong-upvoted it) because you are placing your concept of “obligation” out in the open for scrutiny. I have a question though. Here someone responded to a request for information after I said I would be “surprised” by the information they now claim to have provided. Would you say that I have an obligation to react to their response, i.e. either admit that I lost an argument, or take the effort to see whether I agree with their interpretation of the information? Right now I am not motivated to do the latter.
If this doesn’t fall under your definition of “obligation”, what would you say are the key differences between this scenario and the scenarios where you think people do have an obligation?
Would you say that I have an obligation to react to their response, i.e. either admit that I lost an argument, or take the effort to see whether I agree with their interpretation of the information? Right now I am not motivated to do the latter.
Well, first of all, my comment described an interaction between the author of a post or comment (i.e., someone who was putting forth some idea) and an interlocutor who was requesting a clarification (or noting an inconsistency, or asking for a term to be defined, etc.). As far as I can tell, based on a skim of the discussion thread you linked, in that case you were the one who was asking someone else a question about something they had posted, so you would be the interlocutor, and they the author. They posted something, you asked a question, they gave an answer…
Are you obligated to then respond to their response? Well… yes? I mean, what was the point of asking the question in the first place? You asked for some information, and received it. Presumably you had some reason for asking, right? You were going to do something with either the received information, or the fact that none could be provided? Well, go ahead and do it. Integrate it into your reasoning, and into the discussion. Otherwise, why ask?
I can’t easily find it at the moment, but Eliezer once wrote something to the effect that an argument isn’t really trustworthy unless it’s critiqued, and the author responds to the critics, and the critics respond to the response, and the author responds to the critics’ response to his response. But why? What motivates this requirement? As I wrote in the grandparent comment: nothing but normative epistemic principles, i.e. the fact that if we don’t conform to these requirements, we are far more likely to end up mistaken, believing nonsense, etc.
Similarly with your obligation to respond. Why are you thus obligated? Well, if you ask for information from your interlocutor, they provide it, and then you just ignore it… how exactly do you expect ever to become less wrong?
This is a great answer. I will have to incorporate concepts like “interlocutor” and “author” into my worldview.
If I may ask a somewhat metaphorical question, what determines who the interlocutor and author are in a context which is not so clear-cut as an online interaction? Like, if I ask a question in a talk, does that mean the presenter is the author and I am the interlocutor? Is DSL the author and JB the interlocutor? Or maybe the other way around? I may even go so far as to claim that in a context like this one, I am the author and my conversationmate was the interlocutor!!
So, I like this comment (and strong-upvoted it) because you are placing your concept of “obligation” out in the open for scrutiny. I have a question though. Here someone responded to a request for information after I said I would be “surprised” by the information they now claim to have provided. Would you say that I have an obligation to react to their response, i.e. either admit that I lost an argument, or take the effort to see whether I agree with their interpretation of the information? Right now I am not motivated to do the latter.
If this doesn’t fall under your definition of “obligation”, what would you say are the key differences between this scenario and the scenarios where you think people do have an obligation?
Well, first of all, my comment described an interaction between the author of a post or comment (i.e., someone who was putting forth some idea) and an interlocutor who was requesting a clarification (or noting an inconsistency, or asking for a term to be defined, etc.). As far as I can tell, based on a skim of the discussion thread you linked, in that case you were the one who was asking someone else a question about something they had posted, so you would be the interlocutor, and they the author. They posted something, you asked a question, they gave an answer…
Are you obligated to then respond to their response? Well… yes? I mean, what was the point of asking the question in the first place? You asked for some information, and received it. Presumably you had some reason for asking, right? You were going to do something with either the received information, or the fact that none could be provided? Well, go ahead and do it. Integrate it into your reasoning, and into the discussion. Otherwise, why ask?
I can’t easily find it at the moment, but Eliezer once wrote something to the effect that an argument isn’t really trustworthy unless it’s critiqued, and the author responds to the critics, and the critics respond to the response, and the author responds to the critics’ response to his response. But why? What motivates this requirement? As I wrote in the grandparent comment: nothing but normative epistemic principles, i.e. the fact that if we don’t conform to these requirements, we are far more likely to end up mistaken, believing nonsense, etc.
Similarly with your obligation to respond. Why are you thus obligated? Well, if you ask for information from your interlocutor, they provide it, and then you just ignore it… how exactly do you expect ever to become less wrong?
This is a great answer. I will have to incorporate concepts like “interlocutor” and “author” into my worldview.
If I may ask a somewhat metaphorical question, what determines who the interlocutor and author are in a context which is not so clear-cut as an online interaction? Like, if I ask a question in a talk, does that mean the presenter is the author and I am the interlocutor? Is DSL the author and JB the interlocutor? Or maybe the other way around? I may even go so far as to claim that in a context like this one, I am the author and my conversationmate was the interlocutor!!