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Comments like these are ineffective because you aren't providing any evidence or arguments to justify your beliefs. You're just asserting that you're right and

Comments like these are ineffective because you aren't providing any evidence or arguments to justify your beliefs. You're just asserting that you're right and everyone else is wrong. Why should anyone believe you?

sametmax 9y ago
We have 20 years of reporting about the mischief of Microsoft. What more do you need ? Why do we even have to, yet again, bring the burden of the proof to fight a PR orchestrated with millions of dollar ? It's an impossible to win fight to tell the sky is blue to people if the minute they don't look at it anymore, they doubt it and ask for proof.
- csallen 9y ago
  Microsoft's anti-competitive business practices caused wars, famine, and poverty in Africa? That's news to me. So yeah, you do have the burden of proof if you're going to defend statements to that effect. Also, it's not safe to assume that everyone has read the same things you've read, and knows the same things you do. You have to be prepared to present your evidence during every conversation. Those are table stakes.
  - sametmax 9y ago
    I copy paste the same links, over, and over. There's always more like you. As I said, I can't win against this PR. It's sad.
    - dsacco 9y ago
      > I copy paste the same links, over, and over. There's always more like you. That’s both dismissive and intellectually insulting. Please tell me how this is “PR” and not honest altruism: 1. The Gates Foundation’s philanthropy is partly responsible for a 25% reduction in malaria diagnoses from 2005 onwards: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Health/Malaria https://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Health/Mal... 2. Their efforts have dramatically reduced polio, nearly to the point of eradicating it entirely: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Polio https://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Developmen... Let’s start with those two. I gave you links directly from the foundation’s website. Please, by all means, enlighten us.
- dsacco 9y ago
  > We have 20 years of reporting about the mischief of Microsoft. What more do you need? Reporting from where, precisely? And how does it negate Gates’ philanthropy? We need to see details. What may be obvious to you is entirely unobvious to us. > Why do we even have to, yet again, bring the burden of the proof to fight a PR orchestrated with millions of dollar? Because claims require the burden of proof in general, and extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. What is your claim exactly? That the Gates Foundation has not, for example, nearly eradicated polio? That they weren’t even involved in the 99% reduction of its incidence? We’re debating with you in good faith by explaining what we see, it would be nice if you acknowledged us as intellectual peers and bothered to humor us with some evidence. You’re refuting our evidence with...nothing, and you haven’t given us evidence to refute. What are we supposed to do, just believe you? > It's an impossible to win fight to tell the sky is blue to people if the minute they don't look at it anymore, they doubt it and ask for proof. Look, if you want to rant into a void, continue carrying on like this. If you want to seriously convince people, you need to make an effort with falsifiable claims and some evidence instead of going on about a grand conspiracy to make Bill Gates look good. What an incredibly effective conspiracy, to spend billions of dollars helping people. How nefarious of them, who would have thought of that!
bromuro 9y ago
I don’t mind the [citation needed] generation to “believe me”, thanks.

sametmax 9y ago

We have 20 years of reporting about the mischief of Microsoft. What more do you need ? Why do we even have to, yet again, bring the burden of the proof to fight a PR orchestrated with millions of dollar ? It's an impossible to win fight to tell the sky is blue to people if the minute they don't look at it anymore, they doubt it and ask for proof.

csallen 9y ago
Microsoft's anti-competitive business practices caused wars, famine, and poverty in Africa? That's news to me. So yeah, you do have the burden of proof if you're going to defend statements to that effect. Also, it's not safe to assume that everyone has read the same things you've read, and knows the same things you do. You have to be prepared to present your evidence during every conversation. Those are table stakes.
- sametmax 9y ago
  I copy paste the same links, over, and over. There's always more like you. As I said, I can't win against this PR. It's sad.
  - dsacco 9y ago
    > I copy paste the same links, over, and over. There's always more like you. That’s both dismissive and intellectually insulting. Please tell me how this is “PR” and not honest altruism: 1. The Gates Foundation’s philanthropy is partly responsible for a 25% reduction in malaria diagnoses from 2005 onwards: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Health/Malaria https://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Health/Mal... 2. Their efforts have dramatically reduced polio, nearly to the point of eradicating it entirely: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Polio https://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Developmen... Let’s start with those two. I gave you links directly from the foundation’s website. Please, by all means, enlighten us.
dsacco 9y ago
> We have 20 years of reporting about the mischief of Microsoft. What more do you need? Reporting from where, precisely? And how does it negate Gates’ philanthropy? We need to see details. What may be obvious to you is entirely unobvious to us. > Why do we even have to, yet again, bring the burden of the proof to fight a PR orchestrated with millions of dollar? Because claims require the burden of proof in general, and extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. What is your claim exactly? That the Gates Foundation has not, for example, nearly eradicated polio? That they weren’t even involved in the 99% reduction of its incidence? We’re debating with you in good faith by explaining what we see, it would be nice if you acknowledged us as intellectual peers and bothered to humor us with some evidence. You’re refuting our evidence with...nothing, and you haven’t given us evidence to refute. What are we supposed to do, just believe you? > It's an impossible to win fight to tell the sky is blue to people if the minute they don't look at it anymore, they doubt it and ask for proof. Look, if you want to rant into a void, continue carrying on like this. If you want to seriously convince people, you need to make an effort with falsifiable claims and some evidence instead of going on about a grand conspiracy to make Bill Gates look good. What an incredibly effective conspiracy, to spend billions of dollars helping people. How nefarious of them, who would have thought of that!

bromuro 9y ago

I don’t mind the [citation needed] generation to “believe me”, thanks.