3 ms·

>So I find the whole first half of the text to be a flabby way of saying that the arguments of dishonest people need to be evaluated more critically than those

>So I find the whole first half of the text to be a flabby way of saying that the arguments of dishonest people need to be evaluated more critically than those of honest people. But I find that the arguments of honest people need to be critically evaluated too. You over-simplified the argument here, I think. I read it more as a person's motivations need to be considered, not particularly honesty. And nearly everybody has motivations that may influence how and what information they present to you.

CWuestefeld 16y ago
a person's motivations need to be considered But how can we know a person's actual motivations? Those are internal to the individual, we can't see them. Heck, in many ways the individual himself doesn't really understand his own motivations. Trying to consider motivations is thus completely fruitless. We only have the history of a person's actions, and to a lesser extent, the history of his statements, to guide us.
- j_baker 16y ago
  Stop being naive. What is a used car salesman's motivation? It's reasonable to assume that their motivation is to get you to buy a used car. What is a crack addict's motivation? It's reasonable to assume that their motivation is to get more crack. These are somewhat extreme cases, but you can almost always tell what a person's motivation is by observing them. What is a married man's motivation for not wearing his ring? He either: forgot it, lost it, is having an affair, or is no longer married. And you can probably tell which if you ask him the right questions.
  - borism 16y ago
    so let's say motivation of the majority of Tor contributors' is helping Web users stay anonymous. but there is also minority who wants to surf child pornography undetected. and then there is really small minority who are there so that NSA can have a better look at what's happening. what then will be the end result of the code produced and deployed do you think?

CWuestefeld 16y ago

a person's motivations need to be considered But how can we know a person's actual motivations? Those are internal to the individual, we can't see them. Heck, in many ways the individual himself doesn't really understand his own motivations. Trying to consider motivations is thus completely fruitless. We only have the history of a person's actions, and to a lesser extent, the history of his statements, to guide us.

j_baker 16y ago
Stop being naive. What is a used car salesman's motivation? It's reasonable to assume that their motivation is to get you to buy a used car. What is a crack addict's motivation? It's reasonable to assume that their motivation is to get more crack. These are somewhat extreme cases, but you can almost always tell what a person's motivation is by observing them. What is a married man's motivation for not wearing his ring? He either: forgot it, lost it, is having an affair, or is no longer married. And you can probably tell which if you ask him the right questions.
- borism 16y ago
  so let's say motivation of the majority of Tor contributors' is helping Web users stay anonymous. but there is also minority who wants to surf child pornography undetected. and then there is really small minority who are there so that NSA can have a better look at what's happening. what then will be the end result of the code produced and deployed do you think?