#+TITLE: Bad Arguments Against Something Can Become Good Arguments For It
#+DATE: <2023-01-23 Mon 14:03>

* Bad Arguments Against Something Can Become Good Arguments For It
    A decisionmaking trick I often use is to take bad arguments /against/ something as arguments /for/ that thing. As a general qualitative principle this of course does not work - [[https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/qNZM3EGoE5ZeMdCRt/reversed-stupidity-is-not-intelligence][Reversed Stupidity is not Intelligence]]. Rather, I use this technique in a quantitative way.

    Often we have to deal with large aggregates of critiques and praises; say, product or media reviews, or political arguments, or comments on an article or video. In these cases I expect a certain base rate of detractors, people who simply do not like the thing being evaluated and will go looking for arguments against it. Many nonsensical criticisms thus represent a failed search for better arguments; they are evidence that we do not live in the counterfactual world where better arguments could be found. Furthermore, in cases of taste, my disagreeing with detractors is evidence that I am liable to have similar sensibilities as proponents.

    As added benefits, this signal is easy to evaluate, since it is easy to recognize particularly poor arguments at a glance, and it is somewhat resistant to manipulation, since my interpretation of it is /unusual/ - most people will interpret weak arguments against something as weak evidence against that thing, rather than evidence /in favor/ of that thing, and therefore few people trying to sway the public opinion /towards/ something will argue /against/ it.

    Apply with caution, of course, as it is not a particularly high-fidelity signal. I mainly apply this principle when it comes to things like product or media reviews, as those tend to have high volumes of opinions easily sortable by emotional valence. Sometimes I also apply it to the comments sections of theoretical pieces, especially for the kind of author you'd expect to get hate regardless of whether they are right or wrong.
