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No, any admission of fault or error makes things worse. The public is utterly bombarded with claims that this or that person or group was wrong or did wrong wi
by nullc 6y ago
No, any admission of fault or error makes things worse.
The public is utterly bombarded with claims that this or that person or group was wrong or did wrong with respect to something or another.
It's extremely difficult to sort out which of these allegations are true or false. Unless you admit fault, then its obvious to everyone.
- shadowgovt 6y agoI've heard this argument made (I believe I've even made it myself at some point), but in practice, it turns out to be less effective than people think. "Be silent and it'll just blow over" is increasingly ineffective as a strategy because the Internet has a longer memory; as one looks up information on a person, allegations will jump to the surface. And increasingly, people seem to assume that absence of a counterpoint is implicit admission of possible truth (there's the perpetual "when will you stop beating your wife" argument, but a lot of other allegations are in far more plausible categories, where silence can imply a lack of ability to defend one's reputation).
- nullc 6y agoI agree with what you're saying there, but instead of responding by apologizing people are often still better off by going on the attack, calling the allegations baseless nonsense, or personally attacking the people spreading them.
- shadowgovt 6y agoThat works unless they aren't baseless nonsense.