Re:Jessamyn Smith: Fighting sexist jokes with a Python bot
by scott_s on Wednesday March 28, 2012 @04:00PM
(#3768067)
I'm trying to provide perspective without wading into a quagmire. Basically, you're deciding for someone else what is and is not minor to them, and then holding it against them that they're concerned about something minor.
Re:Jessamyn Smith: Fighting sexist jokes with a Python bot
by wpietri on Wednesday March 28, 2012 @07:49PM
(#3768936)
Not really. There's a big practical difference between "X is minor" vs "I believe X is minor."
With the former, you're suggesting that anything else is false; with the latter, you're leaving room for other possibilities. Statements like the former often lead people astray, which is why some people suggest avoiding them entirely.
If you don't get the difference, try speaking in E-Prime for a month. I did, and it was really educational:
Isn't this true for any statement one makes, that it seems that way to him? Isn't it also obvious that for other people, it might not seem so?
What you say is essentially: "other people disagree with that assertion". Well, you can find people that disagree with any assertion. That's not an argument pro or against the assertion.