How to Disagree

Re:How to Disagree by stcredzero on Sunday January 30, 2011 @03:14PM (#2159015)

How can I stop being a "faker", as you call it? I, and probably some other HNers, are often pretty critical or take things people say more literally than they meant often, rather than giving them the benefit of the doubt with a more liberal interpretation.

    1) Find something fundamental to be secure in.
    2) Just stop being a faker.
    3) Get busy doing the real thing.

The first is the most important. One of the professors I admired greatly would always give your idea his best effort, because he knew that the mathematics would eventually cause it to blow up if it wasn't correct. Find first principles that you can take as iron clad, then always build off of those with honesty and humility. There was never a reason for him to grasp at straws to fabricate a straw man. He knew there were solid theories he could work from and test as hard as he could. He also never had a reason to pretend something was more solid than he actually knew it to be.

That's all well and fine for hard sciences, I guess, but the same goes for most of the softer disciplines as well. History is often your friend. Find the historical precedents and examine them honestly.

EDIT: Another thing you can do, if you haven't already, is read this: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_M...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How to Disagree by ehsanul on Sunday January 30, 2011 @06:21PM (#2159532)

I've read that book already and even have alerts on it for new chapters, but thanks for mentioning it. It's thoroughly entertaining!

Well, in my case, it's not that I make fallacious counter-arguments. My arguments are generally quite sound, and simple logic/rationality serves my need for something fundamental.

My issue is that, when something looks illogical on the face of it, rather than giving it the benefit of the doubt and try to imagine how it might work, I just shoot it down. And I shoot it down quite harshly usually, though almost always with a well-reasoned argument.

I have to be arrogant here and say that most of these arguments/ideas/statements I shoot down seem to really deserve it, which I know because I do sometimes restrain myself and just shut up and listen. However, sometimes my response is really undeserved, and I'd do better if I tried to understand where others may be coming from. Even if it's deserved, I could be much less harsh and argumentative, so as to better foster a good discussion.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How to Disagree by stcredzero on Sunday January 30, 2011 @07:56PM (#2159769)

It's not even about preserving the feelings of others. I often find people interrupting me and shooting down a completely different idea than the one I actually had. Other times, I find that my seemingly ironclad argument doesn't apply in the intended context, or is fine theoretically but overlooks an important detail in a practical context.

[ Parent | on HN ]