On Wed, 4 Jan 2006, Jon Lincicum wrote: > Philip Hart wrote: > > >>Ah. I see, you're contending that the "old fool" who gave Vlad money to > >>talk into the box was not actually Brust himself, but rather, it was an > >>intermediary? > >> > >> > > > >I'm pointing out one of various simple scenarios consistent with SKZB > >being bound to here/now. Incidentally, it is not necessary that X be > >an intermediary. > > > > > Perhaps you would care to explain how Vlad could have arranged to have > an "old fool" pay him money to tell stories if they never met face to > face, and there was no intermediary involved? Look up "intermediary", then reread the scenario. Incidentally, your sentence above is confused. > If I say that it seems likely that Brust "The Interviewer" has gone to > Dragaera personally at some point You mischaracterize your own argument. > and then you say, "AHA! you're wrong > because it isn't *absolutely certain* that he did", you haven't really > even addressed my original point. Ignoring your original statement, you don't understand how to show something is likely, or how to dispute such an argument. If you have any evidence that SKZB communicates with Vlad, or that Vlad has any knowledge of SKZB, those would be the sorts of thing you'd want to present. You'd also want to have thought about counterexamples and have a general idea why their general class is unlikely vs your claim. > >> However, this begs the obvious question > > > > > > > >No, it doesn't. Perhaps Mark will explain. > > > > > It would be nice if someone would. It is somewhat wearying to try to > formulate a discussion, and have your counterpart simply gainsay > everything without bothering to explain his position. This point was a bit humorous - look up "begging the question", e.g. in wikipedia. > >>Furthermore, this scenario does NOT address the Paarfi interview > >> > >> > > > >That's incorrect. > > > > > As you do here. The extremely simple scenario I gave explicitly addressed the Paarfi interview. You don't really seem to be paying attention here.