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This was also the example that came to my mind. It is perhaps one of the most iconic examples, and as such, absent a concrete example or further clarification,

This was also the example that came to my mind. It is perhaps one of the most iconic examples, and as such, absent a concrete example or further clarification, I don't see why you shouldn't assume that this is representative of what the author had in mind.

mwcampbell 4y ago
> as such, absent a concrete example or further clarification, I don't see why you should assume that this isn't what the author had in mind. Because we shouldn't automatically assume the worst in each other?
- alanlammiman 4y ago
  That is very far from 'the worst' I can imagine in someone. Further, it is hardly 'automatic' - it is a response to a hypothetical situation the author posited, for which multiple people considered that as the most prominent concrete example. If the author did not intend that, he did a poor job of making his argument clear.
kemayo 4y ago
Oh, I doubt he really wanted that. The sort of thing I suspect he was actually referencing is the "black people commit X% of all crimes" / "racial differences in IQ test scores show..." talking points. (Or their equivalents in other fields. Women-in-computer-science, etc.)
- drewkime 4y ago
  > "black people commit X% of all crimes" This is your example of a "truth", correct? Who defined "crime"? Why is possession of crack a more serious offense than possession of the same quantity of powder cocaine? Is the single crime of selling a loose cigarette on the street equivalent to the single crime of defrauding tens of millions of dollars from investors? How many officers are tasked with arresting people for "quality of life" offenses like loitering and disturbing the peace vs. tasked with arresting people for wage theft through unpaid overtime and time card fraud? Are your statistics for "committing" crime in fact statistics for convictions? Are there systemic reasons those might be very different numbers? If all of these are more useful subjects for discussion, what is the purpose of even making the original statement?

mwcampbell 4y ago

> as such, absent a concrete example or further clarification, I don't see why you should assume that this isn't what the author had in mind. Because we shouldn't automatically assume the worst in each other?

alanlammiman 4y ago
That is very far from 'the worst' I can imagine in someone. Further, it is hardly 'automatic' - it is a response to a hypothetical situation the author posited, for which multiple people considered that as the most prominent concrete example. If the author did not intend that, he did a poor job of making his argument clear.

kemayo 4y ago

Oh, I doubt he really wanted that. The sort of thing I suspect he was actually referencing is the "black people commit X% of all crimes" / "racial differences in IQ test scores show..." talking points. (Or their equivalents in other fields. Women-in-computer-science, etc.)

drewkime 4y ago
> "black people commit X% of all crimes" This is your example of a "truth", correct? Who defined "crime"? Why is possession of crack a more serious offense than possession of the same quantity of powder cocaine? Is the single crime of selling a loose cigarette on the street equivalent to the single crime of defrauding tens of millions of dollars from investors? How many officers are tasked with arresting people for "quality of life" offenses like loitering and disturbing the peace vs. tasked with arresting people for wage theft through unpaid overtime and time card fraud? Are your statistics for "committing" crime in fact statistics for convictions? Are there systemic reasons those might be very different numbers? If all of these are more useful subjects for discussion, what is the purpose of even making the original statement?