Comment by refulgentis

2 days ago

Because "It's good to lie because it makes people correct me" is a joke about IRC, not a viable stable game-theoretic optimal position.

Cunningham's Law emerged in the newsgroups era, well predating the existence of IRC.

Of course, I recognize that you purposefully pulled the Cunningham's Law trigger so that you, too, would gain additional knowledge that nobody would have told you about otherwise, as one logically would. And that you played it off as some kind of derision towards doing that all while doing it yourself made it especially funny. Well done!

  • I have 0 idea what Cunningham's Law is, so we can both agree that "recognizing purpose" was "mind-reading", in this case. I didn't really bother reading the rest after the first sentence because I saw something about how I joking and congratulating me in my peripheral vision.

    It is what it says on the tin: choosing to lie doesn't mean you want the truth communicated.

    I apologize that it comes across as aggro, its just that I'm not quite as giggly about this as you are. I think I can safely assume you're old enough to recognize some deleterious effects of lying

    • > I have 0 idea what Cunningham's Law is

      You had no idea what it is. Now you know thanks to you the lie you told.

      > choosing to lie doesn't mean you want the truth communicated.

      But you're going to get it either way, so if you do lie, expect it. If you don't want it – don't lie, I guess. It is inconceivable that someone wouldn't want to learn about the truth, though. Sadly, despite your efforts in enacting Cunningham again, I don't have more information to give you here.

      > I apologize that it comes across as aggro

      It doesn't. Attaching human attributes to software would be plain weird.

      > I think I can safely assume you're old enough to recognize some deleterious effects of lying

      Time and place. While it can be disastrous in the right context, context is significant. It makes no difference in a place of entertainment, as is the case here. Entertainment has always been rooted in tales that aren't true. No matter how old you are, even young children understand that.