Category Archives: Arguments

The problem with probabililities without models

Posted on 2015-08-31 by Gilbert

Scott Alexander writes in defense of probabilities without models. I denied the possibility of this before, also in the context of Scott’s steel-manning of Yudkowskyanism, but back then the focus of the discussion was slightly different. So this is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Arguments, Math | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

Assumptions behind a curtain

Posted on 2014-08-13 by Gilbert

This is basically an overly long response to a recent blog post by Scott Alexander. It’s not very interesting outside of that context, so read that first unless you did so already. Also, most of this is further simplification of … Continue reading →

Posted in Arguments | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Models as filthy water

Posted on 2013-05-20 by Gilbert

[I was planning on this main metaphor before that other filthy water metaphor shook the Catholic blogosphere. Absolutely no reference intended.] When journalists asked Konrad Adenauer, the first post-war German chancellor, why his foreign office had so many employees who … Continue reading →

Posted in Arguments | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

The disappointing rightness of Scott Alexander

Posted on 2013-05-04 by Gilbert

It turns out that Scott Alexander is even smarter than I thought. This is somewhat disappointing. Perhaps I should slow down on explaining that? The proof of his smartness is of course in agreeing with me. On his blog he … Continue reading →

Posted in Arguments | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Oversimplification by Catholic cardinals and atheist bloggers

Posted on 2013-04-19 by Gilbert

Atheist blogger JT Eberhard has a piece accusing the Catholic Church of supporting the Pinochet regime in Chile. This is somewhat surprising given the conventional wisdom is that the Chilean Catholic Church under Cardinal Silva basically ran what little internal … Continue reading →

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More on the uselessness of sex ed

Posted on 2012-12-02 by Gilbert

Update: Yvain, who unlike me knows what he’s talking about, takes a somewhat more nuanced position and I infest his combox. This is basically a response to a comment that got so long I made it a post. In my last … Continue reading →

Posted in Arguments | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Relevance considered harmful

Posted on 2012-11-24 by Gilbert

Third in a series about doubt, rationalization, being mean while debating, and a problem with the empirical assessment of the effectiveness of arguments. Before I go on with the main argument, I’d like to go a little meta. A discussion … Continue reading →

Posted in Arguments | Tagged | 2 Comments

The counter-productiveness of mockery

Posted on 2012-11-15 by Gilbert

Second in a series about doubt, rationalization, being mean while debating, and a problem with the empirical assessment of the effectiveness of arguments. In my last post I explained how I used to struggle with my faith a lot more … Continue reading →

Posted in Arguments | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Thingspace is a mysterious answer

Posted on 2012-08-24 by Gilbert

[Edit: My interpretation of the thingspace text was probably colored by the context in which I was thinking of it. I still have criticisms of it, but it’s not as useless as I was implying it to be. Read the … Continue reading →

Posted in Arguments | Tagged , , | 17 Comments

Euthanasia update

Posted on 2012-07-28 by Gilbert

Back in January I had a post on some Dutch Euthanasia statistics that were making the rounds in the blogosphere at the time. Basically the claim was that the rates of Euthanasia and assisted suicide in jurisdictions allowing them were … Continue reading →

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