3 ms·

Did you read the remainder of the comment? It seems pretty clear to me at least why it would lead to circular arguments.

andrewflnr 2y ago
At this point, I've presented a handful of fairly straightforward hypotheses about cause and effect. They could be wrong, but it's on you to show that they're actually self-referential. There is no amount or kind of other people's opinions that will make them so.
- MichaelZuo 2y ago
  Your opinions do not automatically turn into credible “hypotheses”…? There is no such mechanism. If there was then the vast majority of political debates on HN wouldn’t even exist.
  - andrewflnr 2y ago
    Who said a hypothesis is automatically credible? Not me.
    - MichaelZuo 2y ago
      If they’re not credible… then why would any one care…? Readers are just going to assume it’s random noise, or at least indistinguishable from noise, from a rando on the internet.
      - andrewflnr 2y ago
        That's equally true of all internet comments. None of us here on HN have or are claiming automatic credibility. We just make arguments that make sense to us. Feel free to close the tab if you don't find any value in this activity.
        MichaelZuo 2y ago
        So then what makes your opinions “hypotheses”? Sufficient chimpanzees with keyboards, or an LLM, can also type out every comment you’ve ever written, including the last few.
        andrewflnr 2y ago
        https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hypothesis https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hypothesis
        MichaelZuo 2y ago
        I clearly don’t think your opinions match the definition found in merriam webster… or else I wouldn’t have asked.
        swiftcoder 2y ago
        You don't think his comment is "an assumption put forward for the purposes of discussion"? That seems a fairly low and generic bar for a comment to reach...
        MichaelZuo 2y ago
        I don’t think the parent meant that interpretation, as that would also apply to the output of sufficient chimpanzees bashing keyboard and LLMs too… Which would be practically meaningless without some attached non-zero credibility.
        swiftcoder 2y ago
        I mean, we're all chimpanzees bashing keyboards around here, at least till proven otherwise
        MichaelZuo 2y ago

andrewflnr 2y ago

At this point, I've presented a handful of fairly straightforward hypotheses about cause and effect. They could be wrong, but it's on you to show that they're actually self-referential. There is no amount or kind of other people's opinions that will make them so.

MichaelZuo 2y ago
Your opinions do not automatically turn into credible “hypotheses”…? There is no such mechanism. If there was then the vast majority of political debates on HN wouldn’t even exist.
- andrewflnr 2y ago
  Who said a hypothesis is automatically credible? Not me.
  - MichaelZuo 2y ago
    If they’re not credible… then why would any one care…? Readers are just going to assume it’s random noise, or at least indistinguishable from noise, from a rando on the internet.
    - andrewflnr 2y ago
      That's equally true of all internet comments. None of us here on HN have or are claiming automatic credibility. We just make arguments that make sense to us. Feel free to close the tab if you don't find any value in this activity.
      - MichaelZuo 2y ago
        So then what makes your opinions “hypotheses”? Sufficient chimpanzees with keyboards, or an LLM, can also type out every comment you’ve ever written, including the last few.
        andrewflnr 2y ago
        https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hypothesis https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hypothesis
        MichaelZuo 2y ago
        I clearly don’t think your opinions match the definition found in merriam webster… or else I wouldn’t have asked.
        swiftcoder 2y ago
        You don't think his comment is "an assumption put forward for the purposes of discussion"? That seems a fairly low and generic bar for a comment to reach...
        MichaelZuo 2y ago
        I don’t think the parent meant that interpretation, as that would also apply to the output of sufficient chimpanzees bashing keyboard and LLMs too… Which would be practically meaningless without some attached non-zero credibility.
        swiftcoder 2y ago
        I mean, we're all chimpanzees bashing keyboards around here, at least till proven otherwise
        MichaelZuo 2y ago