4 ms·
Have you considered the possibility that these people don't exist (or exist in very small numbers), and you've decided there are a lot of them due to some kind
by hsod 11y ago
Have you considered the possibility that these people don't exist (or exist in very small numbers), and you've decided there are a lot of them due to some kind of confirmation bias?
- mikeash 11y agoYes, but I (obviously) don't think that's actually what's happening. Why do you bring it up?
- hsod 11y agoBecause I think that is what's happening. You have acknowledged that there are some nuanced reasons that knowledge of crimes committed by these men might change one's perception of the incidents. You then refer to a non-specific, large group of people who's reaction to that knowledge completely lacks nuance. From this, you conclude these people are simple-minded hate-machines and lament their existence. It seems to me much more likely that you failed to understand the nuance in their opinions, because you lacked either the willingness or the ability to relate to them and the way they think.
- mikeash 11y agoI've seen many people state this opinion, sometimes in nearly the exact words I "quoted" above. It's possible that they're very small in number and I just happened to encounter a large proportion of them, but I think it's unlikely. That's my basis for saying that. What's your basis for saying your alternative is more likely? It looks to me like you have substantially less to go on for your statement than I do for mine.
- logfromblammo 11y agoI have also considered the possibility that rational people do not exist, and that counting myself as one of them is an irrational conclusion based upon faulty evidence.