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I can compare the value of incorporating this into my worldview if it is true, against the harm of incorporating it if it isn't true. If it's true, it doesn't t
by _bxg1 6y ago
I can compare the value of incorporating this into my worldview if it is true, against the harm of incorporating it if it isn't true. If it's true, it doesn't tell me anything new or inform my opinions in any helpful way. If it's false, it needlessly entrenches my already strong feelings on the matter and gives me a charged, bad data point.
I'm automatically suspicious of anything that plays too perfectly into whatever my emotions want me to believe. I don't see any downside to discarding this one, suspect data point among many other, less-suspect ones.
- aspenmayer 6y agoI read the article with the same skepticism. That’s why I quoted it. I did not mean my quote to imply agreement. The article seemed like police fan fiction, or social science fiction. It describes events that may have happened for reasons of causality and reality; they just as likely happened for narrative impact and viral effect. I try to assume good faith but the context is so unverifiable as to be satirical. It’s not beyond the pale, however, and that is worrying. This could have happened, and even worse things have been done by law enforcement in America, things which haven’t had as much airtime as this post. That is the true tragedy, and that is the kernel of truth in the post, regardless of its veracity.