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

[Leo Prikler <leo.prikler@student.tugraz.at>]

Hi Mark,

Am Sonntag, den 02.05.2021, 17:02 -0400 schrieb 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:
> > 
> > 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?
When it comes to interactions, "good faith" is defined as being "fair,
open and honest".  Negate any of these, and you arrive at some form of
bad faith.  I think more commonly "bad faith" means that the honesty is
negated, while openness is contrasted with lack of transparency and
fairness with unfairness.

You could say "Well, technically, I don't know whether they're being
honest", and that is correct, but it is also a form of casting doubt,
which I would argue constitutes an assumption of bad faith.  Of course,
"you're not sure about it", but the other party is still guilty until
proven innocent.

I'm not sure what definitions of "good" and "bad" faith you're using,
but please consider that I meant "acting in bad faith" to be the same
as "not acting in good faith".

> > > 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.
You're always making an assumption, however.  Even if it's not one
governed by the situation at hand, you have a natural bias to trust or
distrust others in their words.  Claiming you don't is misleading
yourself and others.

Regards,
Leo