So you're asking them, aside from objective truth, to also provide objective truth?
The fact that math and physics are provable proves the point. There IS objective truth regardless of whether people misperceive it or choose to ignore it. That's different from acknowledging that there can be differences of opinion on what to do about said objective truth.
Hollywood celebrity Terrence Howard infamously thinks that 1×1=2. He's a math crackpot—someone with an irrational amateur theory about math or physics. Another famous example is the Time Cube guy; they're not that rare.
Crackpots don't know they're crackpots. They think they're correct. Consider this: What if we're ALL crackpots? What if all humans share some essential irrationalism, such that there's some fundamental math mistake we all make (like 1×1=2) that we just don't know about?
It's highly unlikely, but it's not inconceivable. When we say "math is objective," we mean there's an overwhelming expert consensus that (e.g.) 1×1 is not and could never be 2. Consensus isn't (true) objectivity, though. It's the best we've got, and I have no issue with the word "objective" being used to describe consensus reality in most cases. But if we really want to get into whether true objectivity is possible or not: how could it be?
The parent was arguing in favor of bias by suggesting that in some instances, there is an underlying fundamental truth so having bias is more accurate.
As my comment suggests, I believe society is relativistic and there are no objective truths, but I'm open to being convinced otherwise. Of course, I have my own beliefs and principles but I recognize those are a product of where and when I was born and not some objective law of the universe.
That would fall under physics, which are the objective laws of universe. And that fits neatly within this conversation as well; "bias" has no meaning (or rather, a very different meaning) in the context of math and physics.
Or maybe I'm not aware of the biased physics theorems out there!
>Or maybe I'm not aware of the biased physics theorems out there!
Well I did just mention the flat earth, so there's one. TimeCube for another that's simultaneously hilarious and depressing (the proponent claimed he was silenced by a worldwide conspiracy). Conservapedia, the conservative wikipedia alternative, argues in full sincerity that Relativity theory is liberal and maintains a page titled "Counterexamples to Relativity" [0]. And there's actually a growing phenomenon of Physics Grifters, as noted in some fascinating posts on HN [1]. If you said they were wrong "because physics", they would say you were biased, and you would say you weren't, and you'd be off to the races with all the traditional hallmarks of polarization.
And if you were really unlucky, someone from the outside the debate who wasn't interested in facts would say there's no underyling truth, and it's just polarization, and the best approach is to be neutral between the two sides. And if ever an LLM were to start talking about it, they would need to avoid taking a side to avoid the appearance of "bias."
I think the fallacy here is thinking that opinions somehow don't encompass claims about the real world capable of being right or wrong, when counterexamples abound, and the search for a patch-job corrective principle (oh, that's just physics) unfortunately can't patch that leak.
The fact that math and physics are provable proves the point. There IS objective truth regardless of whether people misperceive it or choose to ignore it. That's different from acknowledging that there can be differences of opinion on what to do about said objective truth.