From 6d194b6a0fb6b26d8aaa24e2f6874f6fbbb39e52 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Zack M. Davis" Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2026 20:21:10 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] publish "Contra Piper on When Conversation Is Possible" --- .../contra-piper-on-when-conversation-is-possible.md | 8 ++++---- 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) rename content/{drafts => 2026}/contra-piper-on-when-conversation-is-possible.md (95%) diff --git a/content/drafts/contra-piper-on-when-conversation-is-possible.md b/content/2026/contra-piper-on-when-conversation-is-possible.md similarity index 95% rename from content/drafts/contra-piper-on-when-conversation-is-possible.md rename to content/2026/contra-piper-on-when-conversation-is-possible.md index 832df46..e6aa498 100644 --- a/content/drafts/contra-piper-on-when-conversation-is-possible.md +++ b/content/2026/contra-piper-on-when-conversation-is-possible.md @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ Title: Contra Piper on When Conversation Is Possible -Date: 2027-01-01 -Status: draft +Date: 2026-09-07 20:20 +Status: published Category: philosophy Tags: honesty @@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ But positing self-deception isn't just a "move" that one could decline to make w Furthermore, as I've discussed above, the cost of not being able to communicate with people you're accusing of self-deception isn't a logical or physical inevitability; it's a choice imposed by the people who don't want to talk to those who don't already trust them. -In light of these observations, I think Piper's apparently well-meaning advice is more naturally understood as a negotiating threat: don't criticize us in this way, or we'll walk. Even if you privately think us self-decieved, you must not reveal that you think that, or we'll destroy the surplus of you being able to interact with us. +In light of these observations, I think Piper's apparently well-meaning advice is more naturally understood as a negotiating threat: don't criticize us in this way, or we'll walk. Even if you privately think us self-deceived, you must not reveal that you think that, or we'll destroy the surplus of you being able to interact with us. -If Piper doesn't think of herself as making a negotiating threat, I guess that implies that I'm rejecting her self-understanding? But, you know, I don't think I'm doing it maliciously. I'm just applying my knowledge of game theory, human psychology, _&c._ to the words I see before me and observing, hey, my max-likelihood interpretation of this behavior is that it looks like a veiled negotiating threat intended to suppress a class of criticism; that's an interesting phenomenon to analyze in a blog post. +If Piper doesn't think of herself as making a negotiating threat, I guess that implies that I'm rejecting her self-understanding? But, you know, I don't think I'm doing it maliciously. I'm just applying my knowledge of game theory, human psychology, _&c._ to the words I see before me and observing, hey, my maximum _a posteriori_ (point estimate) interpretation of this behavior is that it looks like a veiled negotiating threat intended to suppress a class of criticism; that's an interesting phenomenon to analyze in a blog post. But if you think I'm kidding myself about that, then I'm happy to talk about it. -- 2.53.0