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A comment on How to Disagree. Parent comment

Re:How to Disagree by telemachos on Sunday January 30, 2011 @11:14AM (#2158305)
> Take the idea in question, and give it some genuine love.

Something like this is often known as the principle of charity[1] or the principle of humanity[2]. There's a ton of interesting philosophical work on such principles (why they might be a good idea, whether they underpin all language use, whether they are part of our default belief-desire model for interacting with other people, etc.).

But the best succinct version I know comes from a friend I went to grad school with: "Don't be an asshole."

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity

[2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_humanity

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Re:How to Disagree by stcredzero on Sunday January 30, 2011 @11:48AM (#2158398)
But the best succinct version I know comes from a friend I went to grad school with: "Don't be an asshole."

Another aspect: If you think you're so smart, that you can already know everyone else's ideas are stupid and don't matter, you're probably just being an asshole.

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Re:How to Disagree by jcr on Sunday January 30, 2011 @04:09PM (#2159185)
Spotting your own negativity is a good test, but I prefer to phrase it in more self-effacing terms, "When trying to spot all the assholes in the room, I always need to find a mirror."
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