[MichaelZuo]

This seems circular, since your opinion, views, thoughts, etc., are what the opposing factions are rejecting ( or de-legitimizing) in the first place.

[andrewflnr]

People disagree with my opinion, therefore it's circular? Interesting logic.

[MichaelZuo]

Did you read the remainder of the comment?

It seems pretty clear to me at least why it would lead to circular arguments.

[andrewflnr]

At this point, I've presented a handful of fairly straightforward hypotheses about cause and effect. They could be wrong, but it's on you to show that they're actually self-referential. There is no amount or kind of other people's opinions that will make them so.

[MichaelZuo]

Your opinions do not automatically turn into credible “hypotheses”…?

There is no such mechanism.

If there was then the vast majority of political debates on HN wouldn’t even exist.

[andrewflnr]

Who said a hypothesis is automatically credible? Not me.

[MichaelZuo]

If they’re not credible… then why would any one care…?

Readers are just going to assume it’s random noise, or at least indistinguishable from noise, from a rando on the internet.