From: Eliezer S. Yudkowsky (sentience@pobox.com)
Date: Mon Jun 16 2003 - 03:27:48 MDT
Lee Corbin wrote:
>
> http://www.extropy.org/bbs/index.php?board=67;action=display;threadid=56165;start=15
>
> Well, I do wish that Paul Grant was here to defend himself,
> but (in another sense) it perhaps doesn't matter: how can
> anyone read that post and believe that he is not supporting
> Saddam Hussein? Paul certainly is defending him again and
> again!
Read the post carefully. Paul Grant is not supporting Saddam, nor even
defending Saddam. He is pointing out that neither Saddam nor, for that
matter, Bush, are exceptional from a realpolitik view of world history. I
do not share that view of world history. I do not think that Saddam's
actions are excused by the fact that many worse dictators have existed in
history who have invaded on flimsier pretexts; the historical precedent is
to me irrelevant one way or the other. Similarly, I do not think that
Bush's actions are excused by the fact that many political leaders have
done much worse things. Paul Grant, though, is simply stepping back and
viewing the situation as a realpolitik-oriented historian might view it
had it occurred a hundred years ago.
People in the grip of blind patriotism who will go to any lengths, however
irrational, to exalt Bush and vilify Iraq, will exaggerate the genuine
difference that exists between the two, even though there is a genuine
difference. No matter how evil Saddam is, it will always be possible to
paint a picture of him that is even more evil than the reality. A
scrupulous arguer must then attempt to dispel this picture, and, I
suppose, be accused of "defending" Saddam. Of course it may well be that
Paul Grant, in the heat of bipolarized argument, went too far in arguing
and tipped the scales the other way. This should not be interpreted as
any particular liking or support for Saddam, which is of course extremely
unlikely in terms of prior odds. It is a consequence of polarized debate,
in which both sides tend to go too far on whatever argument they are
currently advancing. This is human nature and hence highly likely as an
explanation.
-- Eliezer S. Yudkowsky http://singinst.org/ Research Fellow, Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Mon Jun 16 2003 - 03:37:53 MDT