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  3. How much data do you require before you accept something as "fact"?

How much data do you require before you accept something as "fact"?

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  • A [email protected]

    To my knowledge they have been criticized for being biased, but from what I can find their ratings don't differ drastically from other providers.

    M This user is from outside of this forum
    M This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote on last edited by
    #61

    Their problem is that any news agency in the middle east is automatically "untrustworthy" with quotes like "they haven't been found to report false stories, but we still give them an untrustworthy rating".

    A 1 Reply Last reply
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    • R [email protected]

      How so? Seemed reasonable enough for the few things I checked.

      M This user is from outside of this forum
      M This user is from outside of this forum
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      wrote on last edited by
      #62

      They're incredibly pro-Israel and anti-anything else in the middle east. Reputable information gets a lower reliability rating from them "just because".

      1 Reply Last reply
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      • A [email protected]

        What elaboration do you require from the title to allow you to answer the question fully?

        libb@jlai.luL This user is from outside of this forum
        libb@jlai.luL This user is from outside of this forum
        [email protected]
        wrote on last edited by
        #63

        I would say, a good starting point would be a few examples of those so-called facts and their corresponding data.

        Half-jokingly, I have little doubt I could find a lot of data demonstrating the earth is flat on flat-earth.org or whatever flat-earthers main website is called. But no matter the amount of data I would find there that still would not cut it as far as I'm concerned to accept their certainty as a fact—Incidentally, I also just answered your first question: it's not just the quantity of data, it's also its trustworthiness that should matter 😉

        A 1 Reply Last reply
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        • A [email protected]

          If the center, right, and left change over time how do you expect me to define "center" beyond that which is situated between left and right?

          N This user is from outside of this forum
          N This user is from outside of this forum
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          wrote on last edited by
          #64

          I just showed you an example of where "centre" as commonly defined is not between left and right, but opposed by both..

          I guess the point is, I think those definitions are deficient, and using them as a guide to understanding what is good or true is probably a flawed methodology. It's kind of reminiscent of Fox News' old "fair and balanced" slogan (which never was, but also just missed the point of what journalism is supposed to be about, which is truth).

          A 1 Reply Last reply
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          • A [email protected]

            How do you know consciousness is "true" and not also an illusion created by the brain?

            O This user is from outside of this forum
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            wrote on last edited by
            #65

            Because consciousness is where illusions appear. The unconscious mind can’t experience illusions.

            I’m using Thomas Nagel’s definition of consciousness: the fact of experience - that it feels like something to be from a subjective point of view.

            Even if we’re living in a simulation and literally everything is fake, what remains undeniable is that it feels like something to be simulated. I’d argue that this is the only thing in the entire universe that cannot be an illusion.

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            • O [email protected]

              Because consciousness is where illusions appear. The unconscious mind can’t experience illusions.

              I’m using Thomas Nagel’s definition of consciousness: the fact of experience - that it feels like something to be from a subjective point of view.

              Even if we’re living in a simulation and literally everything is fake, what remains undeniable is that it feels like something to be simulated. I’d argue that this is the only thing in the entire universe that cannot be an illusion.

              A This user is from outside of this forum
              A This user is from outside of this forum
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              wrote on last edited by
              #66

              The unconscious mind can’t experience illusions.

              How do humans dream?

              O 1 Reply Last reply
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              • N [email protected]

                I just showed you an example of where "centre" as commonly defined is not between left and right, but opposed by both..

                I guess the point is, I think those definitions are deficient, and using them as a guide to understanding what is good or true is probably a flawed methodology. It's kind of reminiscent of Fox News' old "fair and balanced" slogan (which never was, but also just missed the point of what journalism is supposed to be about, which is truth).

                A This user is from outside of this forum
                A This user is from outside of this forum
                [email protected]
                wrote on last edited by
                #67

                I just showed you an example of where “centre” as commonly defined is not between left and right, but opposed by both…

                The plural of anecdote is not data.

                N 1 Reply Last reply
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                • libb@jlai.luL [email protected]

                  I would say, a good starting point would be a few examples of those so-called facts and their corresponding data.

                  Half-jokingly, I have little doubt I could find a lot of data demonstrating the earth is flat on flat-earth.org or whatever flat-earthers main website is called. But no matter the amount of data I would find there that still would not cut it as far as I'm concerned to accept their certainty as a fact—Incidentally, I also just answered your first question: it's not just the quantity of data, it's also its trustworthiness that should matter 😉

                  A This user is from outside of this forum
                  A This user is from outside of this forum
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                  wrote on last edited by
                  #68

                  I keep hearing "it isn't the quantity..." and I do not understand why it isn't seen as just as important as trustworthiness of source because even the best source needs a high amount of data to back up a claim.

                  On the topic of flat earthers, did you ever see the video of the guy who tried to demonstrate the earth was flat and proved it was round? The look on his face was priceless. haha

                  libb@jlai.luL 1 Reply Last reply
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                  • M [email protected]

                    Their problem is that any news agency in the middle east is automatically "untrustworthy" with quotes like "they haven't been found to report false stories, but we still give them an untrustworthy rating".

                    A This user is from outside of this forum
                    A This user is from outside of this forum
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                    wrote on last edited by
                    #69

                    Do you have examples of reputable sources from the middle east that have an unfair rating?

                    M 1 Reply Last reply
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                    • A [email protected]

                      It’s not the amount of evidence, it’s the quality of it.

                      Quality evidence has an inherent quantity wouldn't you say?

                      theneverfox@pawb.socialT This user is from outside of this forum
                      theneverfox@pawb.socialT This user is from outside of this forum
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                      wrote on last edited by
                      #70

                      No? I don't care if the whole world is wrong, some evidence is strong enough to convince me forever, even if it's subjective

                      Quality is all that matters. One incontrovertible fact I can poke and prod myself means more than millions of subjective accounts. Or even all of science - I'll rearrange my entire model around a new fact if it's compelling enough

                      A 1 Reply Last reply
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                      • theneverfox@pawb.socialT [email protected]

                        No? I don't care if the whole world is wrong, some evidence is strong enough to convince me forever, even if it's subjective

                        Quality is all that matters. One incontrovertible fact I can poke and prod myself means more than millions of subjective accounts. Or even all of science - I'll rearrange my entire model around a new fact if it's compelling enough

                        A This user is from outside of this forum
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                        wrote on last edited by
                        #71

                        One quality study is enough to convince you of something, even if it has never been reproduced or reviewed?

                        theneverfox@pawb.socialT 1 Reply Last reply
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                        • A [email protected]

                          The unconscious mind can’t experience illusions.

                          How do humans dream?

                          O This user is from outside of this forum
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                          wrote on last edited by
                          #72

                          “Unconsciousness” as a clinical term is different from the absence of consciousness in the philosophical or phenomenological sense.

                          A sleeping person may appear unconscious to an outside observer, but from the subjective point of view, they’re not - because dreaming feels like something. A better example of what I mean by unconsciousness is general anesthesia. That doesn’t feel like anything. One moment you’re lying in the operating room counting backwards, and the next you’re in the recovery room. There’s no sense of time passing, no dreams, nothing in between - it’s just a gap.

                          Thomas Nagel explains this idea in What Is It Like to Be a Bat? by saying that if bats are conscious, then trading places with one wouldn’t be like the lights going out - it would feel like something to be a bat. But if you switched places with a rock, it likely wouldn’t feel like anything at all. It would be indistinguishable from dying - because there’s no subjectivity, no point of view, no experience happening.

                          A 1 Reply Last reply
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                          • A [email protected]
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                            bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.deB This user is from outside of this forum
                            bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.deB This user is from outside of this forum
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                            wrote on last edited by
                            #73

                            It honestly depends more on the source to me. I'd like to claim to rely on data but life is short and there is no way I can verify even a fraction of all the truths I have come to accept.

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                            • A [email protected]

                              Do you have examples of reputable sources from the middle east that have an unfair rating?

                              M This user is from outside of this forum
                              M This user is from outside of this forum
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                              wrote on last edited by
                              #74

                              I already gave you the examples, I said that they unfairly represent middle eastern news as untrustworthy. Or are you here to nitpick and "um ackthcshually"?

                              A 1 Reply Last reply
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                              • M [email protected]

                                I already gave you the examples, I said that they unfairly represent middle eastern news as untrustworthy. Or are you here to nitpick and "um ackthcshually"?

                                A This user is from outside of this forum
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                                wrote on last edited by
                                #75

                                It is itself extremely biased, you believed an authority that isn’t neutral.

                                Their problem is that any news agency in the middle east is automatically “untrustworthy” with quotes like “they haven’t been found to report false stories, but we still give them an untrustworthy rating”.

                                I already gave you the examples, I said that they unfairly represent middle eastern news as untrustworthy. Or are you here to nitpick and “um ackthcshually”?

                                You have provided 0 examples of a middle eastern news source that is unfairly ranked.

                                Are you going to keep being combative and waste both of our time refusing to answer a simple good faith question?

                                M 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • O [email protected]

                                  “Unconsciousness” as a clinical term is different from the absence of consciousness in the philosophical or phenomenological sense.

                                  A sleeping person may appear unconscious to an outside observer, but from the subjective point of view, they’re not - because dreaming feels like something. A better example of what I mean by unconsciousness is general anesthesia. That doesn’t feel like anything. One moment you’re lying in the operating room counting backwards, and the next you’re in the recovery room. There’s no sense of time passing, no dreams, nothing in between - it’s just a gap.

                                  Thomas Nagel explains this idea in What Is It Like to Be a Bat? by saying that if bats are conscious, then trading places with one wouldn’t be like the lights going out - it would feel like something to be a bat. But if you switched places with a rock, it likely wouldn’t feel like anything at all. It would be indistinguishable from dying - because there’s no subjectivity, no point of view, no experience happening.

                                  A This user is from outside of this forum
                                  A This user is from outside of this forum
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                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #76

                                  Some studies on dreams under anesthesia.

                                  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4970206/

                                  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5668036/

                                  O 1 Reply Last reply
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                                  • A [email protected]
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                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #77

                                    A sufficient amount

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                                    • A [email protected]

                                      It is itself extremely biased, you believed an authority that isn’t neutral.

                                      Their problem is that any news agency in the middle east is automatically “untrustworthy” with quotes like “they haven’t been found to report false stories, but we still give them an untrustworthy rating”.

                                      I already gave you the examples, I said that they unfairly represent middle eastern news as untrustworthy. Or are you here to nitpick and “um ackthcshually”?

                                      You have provided 0 examples of a middle eastern news source that is unfairly ranked.

                                      Are you going to keep being combative and waste both of our time refusing to answer a simple good faith question?

                                      M This user is from outside of this forum
                                      M This user is from outside of this forum
                                      [email protected]
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #78

                                      From their own description of Al Jazeera

                                      Al Jazeera has been a valuable voice for the Palestinians as most Western media favors Israel. While most of its reporting has been factual in covering the conflict they have demonstrated one-sided reporting that tends to denigrate Israel.

                                      Mixed for factual reporting. They cite 2 articles that they have found to be false since forever. They complain about "loaded language". Yet they say "straight news has minimal bias". Then they give Times of Israel "high credibility" and speak how unbiased their language is, giving the same examples as they gave in the Al Jazeera one for "biased language".

                                      High credibility is 2 "levels" higher than the middle of the field "mixed".

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                                      • A [email protected]
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                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #79

                                        Just Facebook! LOL

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                                        • A [email protected]

                                          I keep hearing "it isn't the quantity..." and I do not understand why it isn't seen as just as important as trustworthiness of source because even the best source needs a high amount of data to back up a claim.

                                          On the topic of flat earthers, did you ever see the video of the guy who tried to demonstrate the earth was flat and proved it was round? The look on his face was priceless. haha

                                          libb@jlai.luL This user is from outside of this forum
                                          libb@jlai.luL This user is from outside of this forum
                                          [email protected]
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #80

                                          I keep hearing “it isn’t the quantity…” and I do not understand why it isn’t seen as just as important as trustworthiness of source because even the best source needs a high amount of data to back up a claim.

                                          consider my flat-earthers example: the trustworthiness of the source(s) is at least as important. If I told you my pseudo is 'Libb' you can bet that it is indeed so, even if that just me saying it. And that would remain true if, out of nowhere, 100s of people started telling you my pseudo was in reality 'Mickey' or 'Gertrude'. I would still be Libb. Conclusion? All by myself, against that hypotheticla large crowd, I'm still a more reliable source of info concerning my identity.

                                          On the topic of flat earthers, did you ever see the video of the guy who tried to demonstrate the earth was flat and proved it was round? The look on his face was priceless. haha

                                          No, and I'm almost wishing to see it. Almost.

                                          I must admit the rise of flat earth theory came as a shock to me. I always have had a sweet spot for absurd theories but I could not imagine people taking those seriously. But maybe that's just me being manipulated/lobotomized by the government? As a matter of fact, I'm also a pro-vax and that may explain a lot 😛

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