I’m a bit surprised to be called uncharitable for bringing it up.
In particular, the religious example you gave has political associations I am eager to avoid. Implying such associations can be used as a rhetorical tactic. Furthermore, you read an extreme statements into my comment that simply is not there:
it’s pretty unfair to say that all professional researchers of bioethics need to suddenly pivot into PR
These things together caused me to read your comment not as a rebuttal, but as a low blow, combining outgroup signaling and weak-man tactics. This is why I called your comment uncharitable. I am explaining this to you because you said you were surprised at this reaction, which indicates to me that you may be unaware of these associations and may not have been reading me very closely.
No one is accusing your dad of bad acts if his Facebook is cloned, AFAICT.
Holding your dad responsible for anyone who gets scammed would be equivalent to accusing him of negligence—a bad omission rather than a bad act, but it is in fact a discussion of omissions that we are focused on here.
that seems to be the only difference—they really do seem like very similar arguments
Given that you didn’t notice this important difference the first time you examined my argument, are you sure you want to trust your impressions of how things “seem” to you the second time around? This is not, after all, the only difference I outlined—the other being that we are dealing with coordination and communication problems rather than intentionally destructive or criminal actions.
Of course, it’s also important to note that it’s not just the number of distinct differences between the argument I’m making and the words you’re putting into my mouth, but the magnitude of each individual difference. A single important difference is enough to robustly distinguish the ethical argument I’m making from the one you’re worrying about.
In particular, the religious example you gave has political associations I am eager to avoid. Implying such associations can be used as a rhetorical tactic. Furthermore, you read an extreme statements into my comment that simply is not there:
These things together caused me to read your comment not as a rebuttal, but as a low blow, combining outgroup signaling and weak-man tactics. This is why I called your comment uncharitable. I am explaining this to you because you said you were surprised at this reaction, which indicates to me that you may be unaware of these associations and may not have been reading me very closely.
Holding your dad responsible for anyone who gets scammed would be equivalent to accusing him of negligence—a bad omission rather than a bad act, but it is in fact a discussion of omissions that we are focused on here.
Given that you didn’t notice this important difference the first time you examined my argument, are you sure you want to trust your impressions of how things “seem” to you the second time around? This is not, after all, the only difference I outlined—the other being that we are dealing with coordination and communication problems rather than intentionally destructive or criminal actions.
Of course, it’s also important to note that it’s not just the number of distinct differences between the argument I’m making and the words you’re putting into my mouth, but the magnitude of each individual difference. A single important difference is enough to robustly distinguish the ethical argument I’m making from the one you’re worrying about.