what happened here?

  • WhiskeyOaks [none/use name]@hexbear.netOP
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    12 hours ago

    And yall don’t need to start every interaction by being a massive douchebag and acting like everyone is out get you. The actual language of my question is pretty innocuous (though, perhaps less so given the context of the instance, but still).

    If I asked if it was real, I would get answers biased by belief in the events legitimacy. I’m also not going to ask what the origins are as I already know where the image comes from. By very purposely asking such a vague question, I’m openly inviting people answer with the information that they deem important to the context of this image. By asking in this way and in this instance specifically, I have the greatest chance to learn and stumble into some new information. As with all things, there are extremely polarized opinions about Tianamen Square, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

    • SovietBeerTruckOperator [none/use name]@hexbear.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      6 hours ago

      Did you really think saying “I’m curious, what happened here” wasn’t going to come off as smug and condescending? Did you really expect it to garner a civil and cordial response?

      Like actually? What did you think our reaction would be? I have a hard time believing you didn’t think you were gonna “troll” us and when we mounted a better response than you thought you decided to get pissy and start moaning about civility.

    • Awoo [she/her]@hexbear.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      65
      ·
      12 hours ago

      the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

      Typically untrue. The rest of your comment I agree with though, you do need to be aware that an instance like this is consistently trolled by smuglord smuglord liberals so people are on guard and view vagueness as indicative of bad-faith participation. Given that most people don’t want to waste their time with someone they know is acting in bad-faith the result is hostility and easy cheap responses instead.

      • WhiskeyOaks [none/use name]@hexbear.netOP
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        11 hours ago

        Do you think the truth typically lies at the extremes of reason? In my experience Occams Razor holds in almost every situation, especially with controversial topics like this.

        • HelluvaBottomCarter [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          3 hours ago

          Well yes because the truth is the truth and our reason is Calvinball that changes over time and space. Scientific advancement always happens at the edge of knowledge and reason. That’s how it advances. You have to question the existing premise in order to move past it. You’re the one moving, not reality.

          Occams Razor does not mean that the truth is always in the center of reason. It’s that all things being equal (aka equal evidence for all sides), the truth is the thing that requires the fewest assumptions. Your lack of awareness about the evidence (ie full video of Tienanmen Square) isn’t the thing that requires the least amount of assumptions. You’re just assuming you have all the information and acting on that. We’re not assuming the information, we have it. So ours requires one less assumption than you.

        • FunkyStuff [he/him]@hexbear.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          3 hours ago

          Do you think the truth typically lies at the extremes of reason?

          yeah, pretty much always. What truth lied in the middle of the geocentrism debate? Does God exist or not? Can the truth be somewhere in the middle for any of the most important questions?

        • BodyBySisyphus [he/him]@hexbear.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          15
          ·
          edit-2
          5 hours ago

          I like this line of thinking, but I’m having a hard time using it to understand the phenomenon of crop circles.

          Explanation 1: it was a previously unknown spacefaring species that uses giant circles to communicate.
          Explanation 2: it was a couple middle aged Brits with some boards

          Does Occam’s Razor say that it was a couple of aliens with some boards, or it was a previously unknown advanced civilization of middle-aged British men?

        • Infamousblt [any]@hexbear.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          27
          ·
          edit-2
          9 hours ago

          I know that 1+1=2 but some people think 1+1=3. So probably 1+1 is approximately 2.5 since objective truth usually lies somewhere between two ends huh.

          Now you could say that you don’t know enough about math to know either way and that would be fine too, but then you shouldn’t have an opinion on it or say anything about math at all

        • Cowbee [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          68
          ·
          11 hours ago

          “Reason” isn’t something with extremes, normally. Events are events, the truth is in the evidence. Interpretations of the evidence can vary, but truth doesn’t vary. There’s nothing about being in the “middle” of two positions on what happened in a historical event that makes the median stance any more or less accurate than the stances themselves.

          As an example, Iraq with WMD. The US line was that Iraq had WMD, the Iraqi line was that they didn’t. The Iraqi line was 100% correct and the US line was 100% fabrication.

        • TheLepidopterists [he/him]@hexbear.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          53
          ·
          11 hours ago

          Occam’s Razor has nothing to do with the truth being in the middle of two arbitrarily chosen positions you pseudointellectual lib.

          You’re just throwing out phrases that you think make you sound smart.

        • DinosaurThussy [they/them]@hexbear.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          40
          ·
          11 hours ago

          Invoking Occam’s Razor here is conflating neutrality with simplicity which is not always the case. Most political dichotomies of opinion are social constructions which themselves have bias. While there is a kernel of truth to “the truth lies somewhere in the middle” (you should try to get a complete picture before reaching a conclusion), applying it to already-biased dichotomies and then landing in the middle is going to result in you favoring the original bias present in the construction.

          • WhiskeyOaks [none/use name]@hexbear.netOP
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            11 hours ago

            I would argue it does. One extreme wants to say; “Tienanmen Square was a horrible tragedy and China/ Communism is the evilest thing in the world”, likely not true, but also, neither China nor Communism have clean hands. The other extreme wants to say; “Nothing interesting happened with Tienanmen Square and the West/ Capitalism is the evilest thing in the world”, equally unlikely to be true, but also, neither the West or Communism have clean hands. In this case, Occam’s Razor implies that neither of these extremes is reasonable and that the true story is actually some composite of both. I’m not using Occam’s Razor as a form of neutrality, merely as a mechanism for determining when a reasonable conclusion can be made.

            • CloutAtlas [he/him]@hexbear.net
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              17
              ·
              8 hours ago

              I’ll use a more recent example here than some of the other comments. The west claimed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Iraq claimed otherwise. Is the truth simply in the middle because both George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein are unreliable and bad people? Did Iraq have half a WMD? What does your interpretation of Occam’s Razor say about this situation?

            • DinosaurThussy [they/them]@hexbear.net
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              40
              ·
              10 hours ago

              Nothing interesting happened with Tienanmen Square

              If we are your proxy for this extreme and this was your takeaway from the readings and videos you’ve been linked, I don’t know what to tell you. The June 4th Incident was the culmination of weeks of protests and has lasting impacts to this day both domestically and internationally. Chinese students are taught as much in school.

            • bbnh69420 [she/her, they/them]@hexbear.net
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              24
              ·
              edit-2
              9 hours ago

              Nothing interesting happened with Tienanmen Square

              You can’t possibly think anyone here believes this, this is just the cartoonish (racist?) western propaganda image of a society brainwashed into forgetting massive historical events, akin to “no winnie the pooh in China” or “1M Uyghurs genocided in Xinjiang.” You’ve gotten at least a dozen articles and sources elaborating on the causes, events, and outcomes of the protests and riots on June 4th 1989

        • Awoo [she/her]@hexbear.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          32
          ·
          edit-2
          11 hours ago

          No I think that when multiple people are telling history there is usually one that is correct and it’s usually the ones that were actually physically present at the time it occurred.

          There aren’t multiple liars, there are multiple liars and one person telling the truth. You aren’t seeking a “middle”, you’re seeking the person telling the truth. “The middle” would be incorrect as well, as it would be in-between the lie and the truth.

    • hello_hello [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      51
      ·
      11 hours ago

      there are extremely polarized opinions about Tianamen Square, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

      i-cant middle of what? The middle of your ass you’re speaking out of?

    • REgon [they/them]@hexbear.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      38
      ·
      edit-2
      11 hours ago

      The interaction did not start out at that point, it went there after you made it obvious you were not even going to watch the video of the event you talked about.
      It’s being made clearer by you continually trying to rewrite the course of events.

      By very purposely asking such a vague question, I’m openly inviting people answer with the information that they deem important to the context of this image.

      You do not openly invite to a discussion about an event by hiding your intentions, that is by it’s very nature not an open discussion. Vague questions and answers also only lead to a bad discussion. A discussion which also requires interaction from you, which you have failed to do several times. If you wish to see an example of an open discussion, then go to the thread I’ve linked you.

      And now you are trying to save face, but t his too you’re unable to. Instead you make it all the more clearer you are acting in bad faith.

      As with all things, there are extremely polarized opinions about Tianamen Square, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

      So you did know what was going on? Why did you ask what happened then? Also of course you’re an enlightened centrist. The truth does not lie in the middle when the tale is one of lies and propaganda by the west, as many people have given you resources to see. You making this statement once again makes it clear you’re not engaging with the arguments given to you.