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Joe Biden had been in the public eye for 50 years, releasing tax returns, etc. Hunter Biden was not running for office. Perhaps it is possible that this lapto

Joe Biden had been in the public eye for 50 years, releasing tax returns, etc. Hunter Biden was not running for office. Perhaps it is possible that this laptop, at the time completely unverified, had some magic smoking gun to bring down a 50 year career, magically showing up in a random place 10 days before the election. But obviously the much, much more likely situation is that it was either fake or insignificant. If it were my social network and I cared about my responsibility to society, I don’t see why not promoting this story is at all controversial. It isn’t like Facebook is the entire internet, people still were reading about it.

rendall 4y ago
If the question were Was it reasonable to suppress the laptop story? this would be an excellent answer. The question I asked is: If you rely, for your mental picture of what is... important and what can be dismissed, on the same institutions that suppress true stories and promote false ones, then how even are you making these choices?
- pstuart 4y ago
  Take in the information as a whole and sift out one's best guess. That's all anyone can do. Cognitive bias is a bitch though.
  - rendall 4y ago
    My answer is a few rules of thumb: - political stance is not my identity - actively seek to falsify that which I know to be true - be skeptical about any statement that fits neatly into my preconceptions - apply the principle of charity, to reply to the strongest, most charitable interpretation of a statement, even of those with whom I disagree - not to rely on any source once it has demonstrated a capacity to lie - understand most people want prosperity and peace in society, and may have different, possibly excellent ways of getting there - no, most people are not idiots, morons, crazy or evil, not even those who look at the same information I have and come to a different conclusion
    - pstuart 4y ago
      That sounds lovely but theory and practice vary in their overlap. One point I'll counter you on is that a significant portion of the population is literally below average intelligence and that hate and spite are strong motivators for many. I've yet to see any capitulations by the crowd obsessed with Hunter's laptop but I'm willing to try to zero in on that with you to see if your words match your actions.
      - rendall 4y ago
        > One point I'll counter you on is that a significant portion of the population is literally below average intelligence Yes, half, but IQ is only one measure of a person. Compassion, wisdom, grit are others. Someone can be low IQ and yet wise, compassionate, etc. > and that hate and spite are strong motivators for many. Not sure what you mean by that. How many? How do you know? > I've yet to see any capitulations by the crowd obsessed with Hunter's laptop What would capitulation look like to you? Do you see me as one of "the crowd obsessed with Hunter's laptop"? > but I'm willing to try to zero in on that with you to see if your words match your actions. Not really sure what actions are possible given the format. But sure, walk me through.
        pstuart 4y ago
        > Do you see me as one of "the crowd obsessed with Hunter's laptop"? Unfortunately, yes. > What would capitulation look like to you? To acknowledge the good/bad of each player based upon a reasonable understanding of their behavior. > (re hate/spite): Not sure what you mean by that. How many? How do you know? * I mean that people will act on emotion rather than rationale in a significant number of cases, and that hate can trump love. * How many? That's a silly question. Enough to matter. > But sure, walk me through. Ok, first try (true/false): a. Do you think Biden/Obama were materially moved by Hunter's participation with Burisma b. Do you think that the kerfluffle about Hillary's emails aided in her losing the election? c. Do you think that even that the laptop controversy itself hurt the Biden campaign? d. Are you aware of the concept of an "October Surprise"? e. If so, do you think they are real? f. If so, do you think they work? Essay question: This write-up about the affair aligns with my understandings; do you see any truth in this: https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-make-johnson-grassley-report-biden-and-burisma https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-make-johnson-grassley-repor... Bonus points: are you religious?
dmix 4y ago
Hunter turned out to be mostly a non-story [1] in practice but the FBI silencing his laptop story makes every partisan person in the country immediately think there's something they are trying to hide. Especially when it comes out they already had access to the laptop data before the suppression of the information, so they knew it was real. I don't blame them for thinking it's a big deal. They Streisand'd it into the biggest deal possible. [1] besides people who find rich kids being fuck-ups damaging to the parent, but he wasn't politically involved like other politicians children and there wasn't much tangible beyond that
- typeofhuman 4y ago
  > but he wasn't politically involved like other politicians children and there wasn't much tangible beyond that He was a board member of a Ukrainian oil company receiving tons of money having 0-energy related business experience. Then there's the firing of the prosecutor looking into the corruption of Burisma at the behest of Joe Biden ("son of bitch, he got fired"). Now we're sending billions of dollars over there with reports saying few of those dollars are going to the front lines. Conservatively, there's enough there to warrant the appearance of impropriety and the American public deserve to have answers. When a story came out exposing this behavior the democratic party, the major news networks, social networks, and now the FBI actively peddled misinformation wrongly calling it Russian-propoganda and/or censoring/suppressing it. Seems sketch.
  - myko 4y ago
    > FBI actively peddled misinformation wrongly calling it Russian-propoganda and/or censoring/suppressing it. No, they weren't wrong. This was a Russian propaganda op to amplify a non-story.
    - typeofhuman 4y ago
      What part of the story was inaccurate?
      - 4y ago

rendall 4y ago

If the question were Was it reasonable to suppress the laptop story? this would be an excellent answer. The question I asked is: If you rely, for your mental picture of what is... important and what can be dismissed, on the same institutions that suppress true stories and promote false ones, then how even are you making these choices?

pstuart 4y ago
Take in the information as a whole and sift out one's best guess. That's all anyone can do. Cognitive bias is a bitch though.
- rendall 4y ago
  My answer is a few rules of thumb: - political stance is not my identity - actively seek to falsify that which I know to be true - be skeptical about any statement that fits neatly into my preconceptions - apply the principle of charity, to reply to the strongest, most charitable interpretation of a statement, even of those with whom I disagree - not to rely on any source once it has demonstrated a capacity to lie - understand most people want prosperity and peace in society, and may have different, possibly excellent ways of getting there - no, most people are not idiots, morons, crazy or evil, not even those who look at the same information I have and come to a different conclusion
  - pstuart 4y ago
    That sounds lovely but theory and practice vary in their overlap. One point I'll counter you on is that a significant portion of the population is literally below average intelligence and that hate and spite are strong motivators for many. I've yet to see any capitulations by the crowd obsessed with Hunter's laptop but I'm willing to try to zero in on that with you to see if your words match your actions.
    - rendall 4y ago
      > One point I'll counter you on is that a significant portion of the population is literally below average intelligence Yes, half, but IQ is only one measure of a person. Compassion, wisdom, grit are others. Someone can be low IQ and yet wise, compassionate, etc. > and that hate and spite are strong motivators for many. Not sure what you mean by that. How many? How do you know? > I've yet to see any capitulations by the crowd obsessed with Hunter's laptop What would capitulation look like to you? Do you see me as one of "the crowd obsessed with Hunter's laptop"? > but I'm willing to try to zero in on that with you to see if your words match your actions. Not really sure what actions are possible given the format. But sure, walk me through.
      - pstuart 4y ago
        > Do you see me as one of "the crowd obsessed with Hunter's laptop"? Unfortunately, yes. > What would capitulation look like to you? To acknowledge the good/bad of each player based upon a reasonable understanding of their behavior. > (re hate/spite): Not sure what you mean by that. How many? How do you know? * I mean that people will act on emotion rather than rationale in a significant number of cases, and that hate can trump love. * How many? That's a silly question. Enough to matter. > But sure, walk me through. Ok, first try (true/false): a. Do you think Biden/Obama were materially moved by Hunter's participation with Burisma b. Do you think that the kerfluffle about Hillary's emails aided in her losing the election? c. Do you think that even that the laptop controversy itself hurt the Biden campaign? d. Are you aware of the concept of an "October Surprise"? e. If so, do you think they are real? f. If so, do you think they work? Essay question: This write-up about the affair aligns with my understandings; do you see any truth in this: https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-make-johnson-grassley-report-biden-and-burisma https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-make-johnson-grassley-repor... Bonus points: are you religious?

dmix 4y ago

Hunter turned out to be mostly a non-story [1] in practice but the FBI silencing his laptop story makes every partisan person in the country immediately think there's something they are trying to hide. Especially when it comes out they already had access to the laptop data before the suppression of the information, so they knew it was real. I don't blame them for thinking it's a big deal. They Streisand'd it into the biggest deal possible. [1] besides people who find rich kids being fuck-ups damaging to the parent, but he wasn't politically involved like other politicians children and there wasn't much tangible beyond that

typeofhuman 4y ago
> but he wasn't politically involved like other politicians children and there wasn't much tangible beyond that He was a board member of a Ukrainian oil company receiving tons of money having 0-energy related business experience. Then there's the firing of the prosecutor looking into the corruption of Burisma at the behest of Joe Biden ("son of bitch, he got fired"). Now we're sending billions of dollars over there with reports saying few of those dollars are going to the front lines. Conservatively, there's enough there to warrant the appearance of impropriety and the American public deserve to have answers. When a story came out exposing this behavior the democratic party, the major news networks, social networks, and now the FBI actively peddled misinformation wrongly calling it Russian-propoganda and/or censoring/suppressing it. Seems sketch.
- myko 4y ago
  > FBI actively peddled misinformation wrongly calling it Russian-propoganda and/or censoring/suppressing it. No, they weren't wrong. This was a Russian propaganda op to amplify a non-story.
  - typeofhuman 4y ago
    What part of the story was inaccurate?
    - 4y ago