4 ms·

Generally speaking, not wrt this article, I want to point out that usually the definition of bias is that it's unreasonable—if the concerns are reasonable, then

Generally speaking, not wrt this article, I want to point out that usually the definition of bias is that it's unreasonable—if the concerns are reasonable, then it's not bias. So you can't look at someone, see that they write negative articles, and conclude bias. That's not enough information: you still ought to establish whether they got it wrong (especially in an obvious or lazy way), and only then conclude they are biased. If someone keeps writing negative/positive articles, and you don't know if they're right, then you also don't know if they're biased or not. Since I don't see anybody pointing out what's obviously wrong with these concerns, I feel safe to assume it's not biased. Figuring out if an argument is biased is at least as hard as examining the argument on merits, and usually much harder. So I think that the commenters were right to call out the ad hominem.

alistproducer2 10y ago
Absolutely. The only time a person's bias matters is with an opinion piece. If supported facts are laid out, who cares about the author's opinions?
- Robotbeat 10y ago
  Because any article like this is filled with non-neutral ways of wording statements. Andy's information is usually well-sourced. I'm not saying to disregard the objective information in his articles, only be wary of his spin on those facts. There ARE people in the space journalism field that are noted for their professionalism and neutrality. Jeff Foust, for instance, is one of them. Andy P is definitely not.
- Dylan16807 10y ago
  You can write an article claiming almost anything if you include supporting facts and deliberately ignore dissenting facts. The world is full of noisy data.
  - conistonwater 10y ago
    You can dismiss any evidence you want by pointing out unspecified dissenting facts that might exist, so you gotta be quite specific. That's why assessing things on merit is right, but pointing out that all data is noisy is not the way to go: it's uninformative.
    - Dylan16807 10y ago
      Pointing out that data is noisy as a counterargument to an article is uninformative. Pointing out that data is noisy to encourage critical thinking and make people wary of manipulation is not uninformative.
Retric 10y ago
I don't know if this is obviously wrong with these concerns but... “we have qualified our engines to be robust” to such cracks but are “modifying the design to avoid them altogether.” The pending changes “will be part of the final design” for the Falcon 9, he added, “in partnership with NASA to qualify engines for manned spaceflight.” In other words this might not have been a meaningful safety issue. I am not qualified to judge robust in that context, but this reads like a one sided hit piece and the writer has demonstrated past bias. EX: bulging backlog is not a neutral statement. The only thing we can say for sure is it has not been an issue in the last 29 flights, so the actual risk must be greater than 0 and less than ~10%. PS: I would hope they would take even a specific risk at 0.01% per flight as a serious safety concern. But, again without data we don't know if it was more or less than that.
- conistonwater 10y ago
  That's my point: the way figure out if the author is biased is to first answer the somewhat easier question: are the cracks a serious issue or not? I'd much rather have that discussion than the other one. That's also why the ad hominem further up was unjustified. P.S. hit piece is not exactly neutral on your part either. Bias works both ways, you know.
  - Retric 10y ago
    Hit piece is descriptive. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hit_piece https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hit_piece. Do you have a more neutral one For: "A published article or post aiming to sway the public opinion by presenting the false or biased information in a way that appears objective and truthful." Also, I am not sure the guy is biased, just that the piece is. He got a strong response form HN for that article which drives readership. Which is why Hit Pices are such a common style they promote readership.
    - conistonwater 10y ago
      The two synonyms are slam piece and hatchet job, so definitely negative, not neutral or merely descriptive. Plus, the bias is not in the term itself, but in you applying the term to the article.

alistproducer2 10y ago

Absolutely. The only time a person's bias matters is with an opinion piece. If supported facts are laid out, who cares about the author's opinions?

Robotbeat 10y ago
Because any article like this is filled with non-neutral ways of wording statements. Andy's information is usually well-sourced. I'm not saying to disregard the objective information in his articles, only be wary of his spin on those facts. There ARE people in the space journalism field that are noted for their professionalism and neutrality. Jeff Foust, for instance, is one of them. Andy P is definitely not.
Dylan16807 10y ago
You can write an article claiming almost anything if you include supporting facts and deliberately ignore dissenting facts. The world is full of noisy data.
- conistonwater 10y ago
  You can dismiss any evidence you want by pointing out unspecified dissenting facts that might exist, so you gotta be quite specific. That's why assessing things on merit is right, but pointing out that all data is noisy is not the way to go: it's uninformative.
  - Dylan16807 10y ago
    Pointing out that data is noisy as a counterargument to an article is uninformative. Pointing out that data is noisy to encourage critical thinking and make people wary of manipulation is not uninformative.

Retric 10y ago

I don't know if this is obviously wrong with these concerns but... “we have qualified our engines to be robust” to such cracks but are “modifying the design to avoid them altogether.” The pending changes “will be part of the final design” for the Falcon 9, he added, “in partnership with NASA to qualify engines for manned spaceflight.” In other words this might not have been a meaningful safety issue. I am not qualified to judge robust in that context, but this reads like a one sided hit piece and the writer has demonstrated past bias. EX: bulging backlog is not a neutral statement. The only thing we can say for sure is it has not been an issue in the last 29 flights, so the actual risk must be greater than 0 and less than ~10%. PS: I would hope they would take even a specific risk at 0.01% per flight as a serious safety concern. But, again without data we don't know if it was more or less than that.

conistonwater 10y ago
That's my point: the way figure out if the author is biased is to first answer the somewhat easier question: are the cracks a serious issue or not? I'd much rather have that discussion than the other one. That's also why the ad hominem further up was unjustified. P.S. hit piece is not exactly neutral on your part either. Bias works both ways, you know.
- Retric 10y ago
  Hit piece is descriptive. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hit_piece https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hit_piece. Do you have a more neutral one For: "A published article or post aiming to sway the public opinion by presenting the false or biased information in a way that appears objective and truthful." Also, I am not sure the guy is biased, just that the piece is. He got a strong response form HN for that article which drives readership. Which is why Hit Pices are such a common style they promote readership.
  - conistonwater 10y ago
    The two synonyms are slam piece and hatchet job, so definitely negative, not neutral or merely descriptive. Plus, the bias is not in the term itself, but in you applying the term to the article.