4 ms·

Wouldn't Occam's Razor instead suggest that since the Page statement was much earlier that Zuckerberg or whoever wrote this (probably not Mark) just copied the

by wheels 13y ago

Wouldn't Occam's Razor instead suggest that since the Page statement was much earlier that Zuckerberg or whoever wrote this (probably not Mark) just copied the style of Page's statement semi-intentionally? They'd have almost certainly have read it.

mattront 13y ago
If he would be free to say what he wants, he would intentionally try to write the statement in different style and with different words, not to give impression that statements are scripted.
vecter 13y ago
Precisely this. It's really sad to see the sheer volume of conspiracy-theorizing going on around HN.
- beedogs 13y ago
  Even though this is an actual conspiracy between the government and several large Internet companies?
  - _pmf_ 13y ago
    > Even though this is an actual conspiracy between the government and several large Internet companies? If it's a conspiracy, what's the common goal? There's nothing in in for the companies involved. You might just as well say rape is a conspiracy between the rapist and the victim.
    - gmoore 13y ago
      wow - a rape analogy? Really?
    - coldtea 13y ago
      >If it's a conspiracy, what's the common goal? A conspiracy doesn't have to have a common goal between all parties. What kind of bizarro logic did you use to reach that conclusion? People and companies can conspire with others against their will, you know. E.g I blackmail you in order to conspire with me to steal valuable data from your employeer, etc. The goals are set by the NSA, and the tech companies could not care less about them. The agree to conspire (ie. help the NSA) though, because there would be other consequences if they did not. From prosecution from the government, to under the table blackmail, etc.
- ryanac 13y ago
  It's also sad to see the immediate dismissal of alternate story lines even after this discovery. A conspiracy was just uncovered... and we're concerned about conspiracy-theorizing? The word itself has been dragged through the mud to the point of becoming a dismissing scare tactic, it basically translates to "crazy person, crazy ideas". Basically, if your story doesn't match the official conspiracy theory given by the government and the companies that work for it, then you must be a conspiracy theorist... Life is comedy.
  - hysterix 13y ago
    I've been called a conspiracy theorist enough, I wear it as a badge of honor now. I'm not one of these anti-vaccine, anti-gmo glenn beck style conspiracy theorist. No, just one that accepts there is most certainly things going on behind closed doors the public is not privy to, which is all the definition a conspiracy is. People say, "you are a conspiracy theorist" or a "tin foil hat wearer" in an attempt to discredit what you say. The government doesn't need paid goons to sleuth on the internet to defend them, their are armys of people just waiting to comment on how stupid we all are for challenging the government positions/laws. The battle is already lost in the mind of the average american.
jacquesm 13y ago
I'm pretty sure that's it, especially given the call for 'greater transparency'. That one is definitely optional and would not be part of any scripted response, the fact that a large number of the statements have this exact same optional closing paragraph suggests they are inspired by a common source.
cLeEOGPw 13y ago
This is what a student would do when they want to do homework fast and don't want to give much thought about it. I don't think this is the case here.
coldtea 13y ago
>Wouldn't Occam's Razor instead suggest that since the Page statement was much earlier that Zuckerberg or whoever wrote this (probably not Mark) just copied the style of Page's statement semi-intentionally? They'd have almost certainly have read it. No, that's not Occam's Razor. That's "naive believer in government that's willing to ignore all the facts Razor". Occam's Razor tells us that when some companies participate in a covert secret services program which is brought to light, then the secret services coordinate damage control and tell them what they are allowed to say to the press and what not.

by wheels 13y ago

mattront 13y ago

If he would be free to say what he wants, he would intentionally try to write the statement in different style and with different words, not to give impression that statements are scripted.

vecter 13y ago

Precisely this. It's really sad to see the sheer volume of conspiracy-theorizing going on around HN.

beedogs 13y ago
Even though this is an actual conspiracy between the government and several large Internet companies?
- _pmf_ 13y ago
  > Even though this is an actual conspiracy between the government and several large Internet companies? If it's a conspiracy, what's the common goal? There's nothing in in for the companies involved. You might just as well say rape is a conspiracy between the rapist and the victim.
  - gmoore 13y ago
    wow - a rape analogy? Really?
  - coldtea 13y ago
    >If it's a conspiracy, what's the common goal? A conspiracy doesn't have to have a common goal between all parties. What kind of bizarro logic did you use to reach that conclusion? People and companies can conspire with others against their will, you know. E.g I blackmail you in order to conspire with me to steal valuable data from your employeer, etc. The goals are set by the NSA, and the tech companies could not care less about them. The agree to conspire (ie. help the NSA) though, because there would be other consequences if they did not. From prosecution from the government, to under the table blackmail, etc.
ryanac 13y ago
It's also sad to see the immediate dismissal of alternate story lines even after this discovery. A conspiracy was just uncovered... and we're concerned about conspiracy-theorizing? The word itself has been dragged through the mud to the point of becoming a dismissing scare tactic, it basically translates to "crazy person, crazy ideas". Basically, if your story doesn't match the official conspiracy theory given by the government and the companies that work for it, then you must be a conspiracy theorist... Life is comedy.
- hysterix 13y ago
  I've been called a conspiracy theorist enough, I wear it as a badge of honor now. I'm not one of these anti-vaccine, anti-gmo glenn beck style conspiracy theorist. No, just one that accepts there is most certainly things going on behind closed doors the public is not privy to, which is all the definition a conspiracy is. People say, "you are a conspiracy theorist" or a "tin foil hat wearer" in an attempt to discredit what you say. The government doesn't need paid goons to sleuth on the internet to defend them, their are armys of people just waiting to comment on how stupid we all are for challenging the government positions/laws. The battle is already lost in the mind of the average american.

jacquesm 13y ago

I'm pretty sure that's it, especially given the call for 'greater transparency'. That one is definitely optional and would not be part of any scripted response, the fact that a large number of the statements have this exact same optional closing paragraph suggests they are inspired by a common source.

cLeEOGPw 13y ago

This is what a student would do when they want to do homework fast and don't want to give much thought about it. I don't think this is the case here.

coldtea 13y ago

>Wouldn't Occam's Razor instead suggest that since the Page statement was much earlier that Zuckerberg or whoever wrote this (probably not Mark) just copied the style of Page's statement semi-intentionally? They'd have almost certainly have read it. No, that's not Occam's Razor. That's "naive believer in government that's willing to ignore all the facts Razor". Occam's Razor tells us that when some companies participate in a covert secret services program which is brought to light, then the secret services coordinate damage control and tell them what they are allowed to say to the press and what not.