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What does that even mean? People usually say this when they want to sound wise but to me it sounds like nonsense cowardly pseudo-intellectualism. So you've dete
by chez17 13y ago
What does that even mean? People usually say this when they want to sound wise but to me it sounds like nonsense cowardly pseudo-intellectualism. So you've determined the truth is "somewhere in the middle" of two vast extremes. How does that contribute to the conversation? It's like playing the "guess what number I'm thinking of" game and the options are between 1 and 1,000,000 and you guess "somewhere in the middle" and proudly walk away. More importantly, it adds to the idea that there is one truth, that the whole thing can be boiled down to any easy and simple truth. This isn't the case, reality is far more complicated than that.
- krapp 13y agoWow, people are reading so much more into that than I intended. I only meant that portrayals of the government, particularly on HN lately, sometimes seem to assume that it's some kind of ultimately corrupt, death-dealing junta that will put you on a blacklist for just thinking about them, or a useless bureaucratic morass. I wasn't intending to make a value judgement on anything. I probably shouldn't have used the word 'truth.'
- fnordfnordfnord 13y agoSo, if you're a death-dealing junta, you can always soften criticism by advancing a completely contrary lie? Or alternatively, if you want to attack a group of Girl Scouts, make up and tell terrible lies about them. >seem to assume that it's some kind of ultimately corrupt, death-dealing junta that will put you on a blacklist for just thinking about them I haven't seen anyone call them a junta, otherwise, it's not without precedent, you know. Hell, the FBI's headquarters still proudly bears the name of its most disgraceful former director (37 years!), who directed every kind of activity we find antithetical to liberty and justice. see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO and especially, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO#Post-COINTELPRO_operations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO#Post-COINTELPRO_ope...
- krapp 13y agoSo, if you're a death-dealing junta, you can always soften criticism by advancing a completely contrary lie? Actually, probably yes. Almost always. But again, Kylekramer was suggesting it seemed odd for these two contradictory portrayals of the NSA to exist. I was just suggesting that there was no real contradiction, because people can tend to resort to extremes to advance their point.