“But Have They Engaged With The Arguments? [Linkpost]” by Noosphere89

There's an interestingly pernicious version of a selection effect that occurs in epistemology, where people can be led into false claims because when people try to engage with arguments, people will drop out at random steps, and past a few steps or so, the people who believe in all the arguments will have a secure-feeling position that the arguments are right, and that people who object to the arguments are (insane/ridiculous/obviously trolling), no matter whether the claim is true:

What's going wrong, I think, is something like this. People encounter uncommonly-believed propositions now and then, like “AI safety research is the most valuable use of philanthropic money and talent in the world” or “Sikhism is true”, and decide whether or not to investigate them further. If they decide to hear out a first round of arguments but don't find them compelling enough, they drop out of the process. [...]

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First published:

September 2nd, 2025

Source:

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/LLiZEnnh3kK3Qg7qf/but-have-they-engaged-with-the-arguments-linkpost

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.