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The dangerous nonsense is pointing selectively at what you dislike and claiming they’re biased, while ignoring that everything in the space is biased. Saying th
by Pharmakon 8y ago
The dangerous nonsense is pointing selectively at what you dislike and claiming they’re biased, while ignoring that everything in the space is biased. Saying that reporting is “biased” is like saying that water is wet. The issue isn’t bias, the issue is undisclosed bias, bias so strong that it leads the story rather than the other way around, bias that leads to lies, and so on. Simply crying “bias” is the definition of a shallow dismissal.
“Bias” as a generalized complaint is effectively a straw man to beat up when debating the actual facts would be untenable, or make you looks like an asshole. If you think that isn’t obvious, think again.
- eropple 8y agoYeah, you've got it. Your post reminds me of Sam Harris falling all over himself to hold up Charles Murray's racist-ass "research" as some kind of unimpeachable thing--mostly because Murray, as a crank, would talk to Harris, because Murray, as a crank, will talk to anyone who will listen--but demanded of anyone who would dispute Murray the third degree in an gish-gallopingly exhaustive manner. Which is why it's usually the high-handed rationalist, the claimant of no bias, who is trying to sell you a pig in a poke. They either don't know it's just /r/iamverysmart stuff or don't care, but they're selling you something. Not the reporter with a story on their hands who admits to having an opinion.