LessWrong (30+ Karma)

[Linkpost] “Don’t accuse your interlocutor of being insufficiently truth-seeking” by TFD


Listen Later

This is a link post.

I argue that you shouldn't accuse your interlocutor of being insufficiently truth-seeking. This doesn't mean you can't internally model their level of truth-seeking and use that for your own decision-making. It just means you shouldn't come out and say "I think you are being insufficiently truth-seeking".

What you should say instead

Before I explain my reasoning, I'll start with what you should say instead:

"You're wrong"

People are wrong a lot. If you think they are wrong just say so. You should have a strong default for going with this option.

"You're being intentional misleading"

For when you basically thinking they are lying but maybe technically aren't by some definitions of "lying".

What about if they are being unintentionally misleading? That's usually just being wrong, you should probably just say they are being wrong. But if you really think the distinction is important, you can [...]

---

Outline:

(00:30) What you should say instead

(00:38) Youre wrong

(00:50) Youre being intentional misleading

(01:14) Youre lying

(01:24) Why you shouldnt accuse people of being insufficient truth-seeking

(01:30) Clarity

(01:53) Achieving your purpose in the discussion

(03:08) Conclusion

---

First published:

April 30th, 2025

Source:

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ZFxow7G6zDs3hAYx2/don-t-accuse-your-interlocutor-of-being-insufficiently-truth

Linkpost URL:
https://www.thefloatingdroid.com/dont-accuse-your-interlocutor-of-being-insufficiently-truth-seeking/

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

LessWrong (30+ Karma)By LessWrong


More shows like LessWrong (30+ Karma)

View all
Making Sense with Sam Harris by Sam Harris

Making Sense with Sam Harris

26,367 Listeners

Conversations with Tyler by Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Conversations with Tyler

2,397 Listeners

The Peter Attia Drive by Peter Attia, MD

The Peter Attia Drive

7,779 Listeners

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas by Sean Carroll | Wondery

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

4,103 Listeners

ManifoldOne by Steve Hsu

ManifoldOne

87 Listeners

Your Undivided Attention by Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin, The Center for Humane Technology

Your Undivided Attention

1,442 Listeners

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg by All-In Podcast, LLC

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg

8,778 Listeners

Machine Learning Street Talk (MLST) by Machine Learning Street Talk (MLST)

Machine Learning Street Talk (MLST)

89 Listeners

Dwarkesh Podcast by Dwarkesh Patel

Dwarkesh Podcast

355 Listeners

Hard Fork by The New York Times

Hard Fork

5,370 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

15,053 Listeners

Moonshots with Peter Diamandis by PHD Ventures

Moonshots with Peter Diamandis

460 Listeners

No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups by Conviction

No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups

126 Listeners

Latent Space: The AI Engineer Podcast by swyx + Alessio

Latent Space: The AI Engineer Podcast

64 Listeners

BG2Pod with Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley by BG2Pod

BG2Pod with Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley

432 Listeners