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As I commented when that article was posted to HN last time[1], it's important to recognize that there is an important distinction between accepting an argument
by jbay808 4y ago
As I commented when that article was posted to HN last time[1], it's important to recognize that there is an important distinction between accepting an argument and contemplating it as a hypothetical.
As long as one is able to maintain this distinction -- something most mature individuals should be perfectly capable of -- I think Andrew Gelman's criticism falls short.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31244792 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31244792
- ImHereToVote 4y agoI think the "mature individuals" part precludes the possibility of even contemplating the position of others, for most people. I may be wrong though.
- seanp2k2 4y agoThis; it’s been one of the biggest disappointments in my adult life to realize how many legal adults are so incredibly immature, with such inflated yet fragile egos, that merely apologizing to even someone in their own family is totally out of the question. Another is realizing how many people are so willfully ignorant yet dogmatic. I had some suspicions growing up, and even into my twenties I was still quite naive. Being surrounded by nerdy friends who were also generally professionals in a technical field definitely insulated me from the general public enough that it took another decade for it to really sink in. These days it just all feels a bit lonely (especially with COVID), but the spark of meeting kindred spirits still makes it worth it to attempt to have a social life. True friends are rare.
- yetihehe 4y ago> how many legal adults are so incredibly immature Yeah, some of us are like that. I think I've finally matured at about 30-34, now I'm 38 but still learning.
- watwut 4y agoI think that you use "maturity" to mean "being perfect person" or term of approval rather then anything having to do with actual maturity.
- bdefore 4y agoIt's a problematic word. Barring death or a rare physical condition, all human children biologically reach maturity. The colloquialism of 'mature' (or as the opposite of 'immature') varies notoriously person to person, to the point one could argue that it's immature to use it sincerely in debate.
- Dudeman112 4y agoI agree on it being a problematic word As far as I am concerned, if one actually cares about the debate they should just replace "mature" for what they think it means or implies for the behaviour of the individual Replacing the symbol for a definition is quite handy. People get all defensive over being called privileged, but change "privileged" for "having good circumstances" ( or similar ) and they don't feel called out for it despite having the same meaning IMO it's something of a shame how much the human cognition is crap at that kind of stuff
- delian66 4y agoFrom https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/privileged https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/privileged : 1 : having or enjoying one or more privileges, privileged classes 2 : not subject to the usual rules or penalties because of some special circumstance "having good circumstances" does not have the same meaning. For example you can have good circumstances by luck, or by good timing, without having any privileges.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- bordercases 4y agoI use the term "endorsement" to quotate when I believe a belief and whether I am merely acting as if I believe it when I discuss it.