“A single out of context example where the above statement isn’t true, or a statement asserting it is not true no more than 5% of the time.”
is so common.
Once you start seeing this sort of thing, you see it everywhere on HN and it’s impossible to stop seeing.
It’s almost like a mind trap for developers, that once we see a general idea we immediately snap into disproof mode instead of thinking about ways to more charitably interpret the argument.
I hear you man. This is indeed a pet peeve of mine -- outlier counter-examples, as if any general statement is supposed to cover 100% of the population (and if it doesn't it's invalid), and not just "most" or "many".
“Common statement which is generally true”
“A single out of context example where the above statement isn’t true, or a statement asserting it is not true no more than 5% of the time.”
is so common.
Once you start seeing this sort of thing, you see it everywhere on HN and it’s impossible to stop seeing.
It’s almost like a mind trap for developers, that once we see a general idea we immediately snap into disproof mode instead of thinking about ways to more charitably interpret the argument.