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But the question wasn't "why did TripAdvisor not catch this restaurant?", it was "why might a good fraud detection system not catch this restaurant?", because a

But the question wasn't "why did TripAdvisor not catch this restaurant?", it was "why might a good fraud detection system not catch this restaurant?", because an answer to the second question is required for TripAdvisor to be able to claim that its system is any good.

mistermann 9y ago
> because an answer to the second question is required for TripAdvisor to be able to claim that its system is any good Not really, the expectation of any sort of honesty in public communications, be it from the government, corporations, or individuals, is a thing of the past.
- pixl97 9y ago
  >is a thing of the past. No, governments, corporations, and people lied just as much in the past. It's just more transparent to see these days.
  - dragonwriter 9y ago
    The “no” isn't warranted, because the grandparent didn't say honesty which previously existed had eroded, but that the expectation of honesty had eroded. Consistent dishonesty with that becoming more transparent is one explanation of that observed effect, not a refutation of it.
    - mistermann 9y ago
      I'd also disagree quite vigorously that dishonesty is perfectly constant over the last 50 years as well. You don't have to go that far back to find a time where most politicians were generally concerned with the welfare of citizens, above all other things. Now, for whatever reason, that seems to be a secondary (at best) goal on both sides of the aisle.
      - dragonwriter 9y ago
        > You don't have to go that far back to find a time where most politicians were generally concerned with the welfare of citizens, above all other things. It's really hard to establish what people in either the present or the past value above all other things, but certainly the idea that political science might be primarily self-interested actors and that those devoted above all to the public interest were notable exceptions is ancient rather than novel.

mistermann 9y ago

> because an answer to the second question is required for TripAdvisor to be able to claim that its system is any good Not really, the expectation of any sort of honesty in public communications, be it from the government, corporations, or individuals, is a thing of the past.

pixl97 9y ago
>is a thing of the past. No, governments, corporations, and people lied just as much in the past. It's just more transparent to see these days.
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  The “no” isn't warranted, because the grandparent didn't say honesty which previously existed had eroded, but that the expectation of honesty had eroded. Consistent dishonesty with that becoming more transparent is one explanation of that observed effect, not a refutation of it.
  - mistermann 9y ago
    I'd also disagree quite vigorously that dishonesty is perfectly constant over the last 50 years as well. You don't have to go that far back to find a time where most politicians were generally concerned with the welfare of citizens, above all other things. Now, for whatever reason, that seems to be a secondary (at best) goal on both sides of the aisle.
    - dragonwriter 9y ago
      > You don't have to go that far back to find a time where most politicians were generally concerned with the welfare of citizens, above all other things. It's really hard to establish what people in either the present or the past value above all other things, but certainly the idea that political science might be primarily self-interested actors and that those devoted above all to the public interest were notable exceptions is ancient rather than novel.