Re: Criticisms of my "tone" (was Re: A "cosmetic changes" commit that removes security fixes)

[Mark H Weaver]

Hi Leo,

Leo Prikler <leo.prikler@student.tugraz.at> writes:

> Am Sonntag, den 02.05.2021, 15:29 -0400 schrieb Mark H Weaver:
>> 
>> Leo Prikler <leo.prikler@student.tugraz.at> writes:
>> 
>> > Let us assume for the sake of argument I were to introduce a bug
>> > into Guix.  There are a number of ways this can happen, but let's
>> > focus on the important distinction here, which is me purposefully
>> > introducing that bug vs.  it happening due to oversight.
>> > 
>> > Let us imagine the following four scenarios:
>> > 1. You assume I'm acting in bad faith and I indeed am.
>> > 2. You assume I'm acting in bad faith and I am not.
>> > 3. You assume I'm acting in good faith and I am not.
>> > 4. You assume I'm acting in good faith and I am.
>> 
>> This is a false dilemma <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_dilemma>,
>> because you've missed a very important case, namely:
>> 
>> 5. You assume *nothing*.

> I think you're nitpicking here.

I don't think so.

> clearly I either have evil intentions or I don't – there's no middle
> ground.

Yes, I agree with this.

> Likewise, there's no middle ground on assuming evil
> intentions, you either assume they exist or you don't.

That's true also, but this is a different dichotomy than the one you
presented above.  In the sentence above, the dichotomy is between:

  (1) You assume bad faith
  (2) You do not assume bad faith

In your list of scenarios above, there's a (false) dichotomy between:

  (1) You assume bad faith
  (2) You assume good faith

It's a false dichotomy because neither of these is the logical negation
of the other.  They cannot both be true, but they _can_ both be false.

In other words, I think that you have conflated "not assuming bad faith"
with "assuming good faith".  Do you see the difference?

This is not mere nitpicking.  It's a very important distinction.
It's analogous to being forced to choose between "faith in god" and
"atheism", without allowing for the possibility of "agnosticism".

Does that make sense?

>> This is, in fact, the current scenario.  I'm not making any
>> assumptions.
>> That is truly the state of my mind on this question, and I think it's
>> the only rational position to take.
> Which one is the rational position now?  Not assuming evil intentions
> or assuming them?

I think the only rational position to take here is to not make
assumptions.

     Regards,
       Mark

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