JD is either a wit or inadvertantly entertaining:
I must say that the arrogance throughout this blog is starting to become obnoxious.
Starting? Where have you been since 2003?
A few basic blog truths:
1. Most people are idiots who have no idea why they believe what they believe. This doesn’t make them any less valuable in the eyes of God, this doesn’t make them any less responsible for their own actions and this doesn’t give anyone else the right to make their decisions, however suboptimal, for them. It does, however, mean that there is no reason to pay any serious attention to what the vast majority of people say or claim to “think”.
2. Unless and until you prove otherwise, “most people” includes you.
3. Everyone is incorrect from time to time. This includes Internet Superintelligences, we’re just incorrect far less often than is normally the case. This isn’t merely because we are multiple standard deviations north of the norm, but because over the last six years, tens of thousands of attempts to find the flaws in our arguments have been made. Unless you have put yours through a similar refinement process, your kung fu is likely to be weak by comparison.
4. False modesty is an insult to all of the parties involved. And many a modest man has much to be modest about.
5. There is nothing arrogant about being correct. Nor is it arrogant to be conscious of the fact that you are correct. It is, admittedly, arrogant to expect others to be conscious of the high probability that you are going to be correct.
6. A dedication to avoiding issues of known ignorance is often confused with an assertion of universal knowledge. The two should not be confused.
7. This blog exists only for my own amusement. Any entertainment, enlightenment or edification that it might happen to provide anyone else is a happy, but accidental byproduct. If you derive insufficient value from this blog, there are thousands of other similar blogs that may provide you with more of what you are seeking and I wish you success in your quest to find it.