Monday, May 04, 2015

comments closed

Some of you may have noticed that you're no longer able to leave comments in my "the right to marry" post. That's because I closed comments for that thread. A friend of mine, on Twitter, just linked to the following wisdom about how to argue respectfully and charitably, quoting psychologist and game theorist Anatol Rapoport:

1. You should attempt to re-express your target’s position so clearly, vividly, and fairly that your target says, "Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it that way."
2. You should list any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).
3. You should mention anything you have learned from your target.
4. Only then are you permitted to say so much as a word of rebuttal or criticism.

This spirit was absent from that thread, and to be honest, I should have killed the thread sooner than I did.


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3 comments:

  1. I'm perfectly fine with being respectful and charitable but only when the opposition deserves it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I did try to walk that line. I'm too old to be that aggressive these days.

    If I did step over it, I'll apologize to you and all concerned here. My intent was to have a dialogue, not to start or perpetuate an argument.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey, Kevin, here's a bit of squabbling over the love of the force. Those Disney overlords are something else.

    ReplyDelete

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