Some historical background might be relevant: Nixon’s political opponents, at the time, used the conflict between his Quaker affiliation and his aggressive politics as evidence of dishonesty. Citation courtesy of a recent Boing Boing article:
In 1968, candidate Richard Nixon promised to bring the troops home from Viet Nam. Two years later, as the war escalated, anti-Nixon forces accused the president of hypocrisy (above, right) in light of his religious background—Quakers are pacifists.
It is, as Eliezer points out, a distracting example, regardless of whether it is an insulting one.
OK, so that would mean that Nixon supporters might find the example distractingly offensive, which might well be a reason not to use it. But Eliezer said Republicans, and the two aren’t quite the same.
(After Watergate I think there were rather few Nixon supporters—meaning, in this context, people who would be offended by the suggestion that there might be anything suspect about Nixon’s integrity—even among Republicans. When did the “Nixon diamond” start being used as an example in AI?)
Sorry — I didn’t mean to imply that an example had to be offensive in order to be distracting. Simply bringing up a matter of partisan conflict in the recent past can be already distracting, even if it’s not personally offensive to any single reader.
Some historical background might be relevant: Nixon’s political opponents, at the time, used the conflict between his Quaker affiliation and his aggressive politics as evidence of dishonesty. Citation courtesy of a recent Boing Boing article:
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-meanest-u-s-political-campaign-buttons/
It is, as Eliezer points out, a distracting example, regardless of whether it is an insulting one.
OK, so that would mean that Nixon supporters might find the example distractingly offensive, which might well be a reason not to use it. But Eliezer said Republicans, and the two aren’t quite the same.
(After Watergate I think there were rather few Nixon supporters—meaning, in this context, people who would be offended by the suggestion that there might be anything suspect about Nixon’s integrity—even among Republicans. When did the “Nixon diamond” start being used as an example in AI?)
Sorry — I didn’t mean to imply that an example had to be offensive in order to be distracting. Simply bringing up a matter of partisan conflict in the recent past can be already distracting, even if it’s not personally offensive to any single reader.