

Bruce Schneier explains security to neurologist who profiles Muslims - DiabloD3
http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/to-profile-or-not-to-profile

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betawolf33
A very interesting read.

I found that Harris' argument was more immediately graspable and intuitive
(There's a higher risk of an Arabic-looking passenger being a terrorist
[though that's _higher_, not _high_], so check them more than others) but
Bruce's analysis was far more convincing in the end due to the way he laid out
his cost-benefit analysis.

Bruce did a good job at mostly avoiding emotional appeals to a sense of
fairness and focused on the efficacy of the system in practical terms. The
argument from simplicity is a strong one. However, he does seem to miss some
points he should've addressed, especially right at the end where Harris
challenges him on why randomness isn't more generally applicable, if Bruce
thinks it's the best approach here. While I don't think it's a devastating
point, I think it needed a reply, and I think Bruce did a bit of the
'repeating yourself without listening' approach.

Harris is mostly rational and objective about the risk of Muslim passenger.
However, he occasionally strays into making what I feel are unfair
generalisations. At one point he gestulates about 'what other religion does X
Y Z now'. I immediately thought of the Christian extremist groups in America.
It seems his view of the number of Muslims who are in favour of or are not
against terrorist is a bit skewed.

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veidr
Totally fucked headline. Referring to Sam Harris as a "neurologist who
profiles Muslims" is like referring to Bruce Schneier as a "bald guy who blogs
about squid".

However, the exchange between the two of them is fascinating (halfway through
it).

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mquander
This title is absurd, and really insulting to Harris; I'm flagging it for
being insanely rude & misleading, until it's fixed.

