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Argument by "they said" should really only be used when it is the same "they" speaking now and then. Otherwise, especially when no reference is given, the "they
by QuantumGood 7y ago
Argument by "they said" should really only be used when it is the same "they" speaking now and then. Otherwise, especially when no reference is given, the "they" can be no one, a general sense the writer remembers, a low-quality they (talking points for manipulation purposes), etc.
- Apocryphon 7y agoFunnily enough, I asked about this two years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16315334 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16315334
- QuantumGood 7y agoMainly, "they" are of no significance, no matter what "they" say. The information is what matters, not the "they". If information cannot be extracted from their statements (source references / description of logical statement / premise / etc) , there is no data to analyze.