Aaron Wolf <[email protected]> writes: > The reason I bothered speaking up here is because there is a trend > toward dismissiveness. Seek ways to lump the critics in with the bad > actors. Reject an analogy because it's not equivalent. > > Those are the methods by which we *avoid* learning all we can learn. > > If our goal is indeed to gain all the perspectives we can to be as wise > as possible, we must start with the presumption that there *is* > something to learn. Presume that the critics have some insight *even* if > they are guilty of some other unfair statements. Presume that an analogy > has some insight even if it's not actually equivalent. > > To learn, we can say, "*how* is this critique true?" and "what about > this analogy is *true*?" > > To avoid learning, we can say "what aspects of the critic can we use to > dismiss them?" and "in what ways is the analogy wrong?" > > A good mental model: fill in the blank: "I would accept your feedback if > _____" (maybe, if you were an expert, or if it were presented without > some unfair attack, or if you have personal experience, or if you've > been part of the community long enough" etc etc) > > Next, recognize that every one of those filters is an *obstacle* to an > open mind. I'm not saying we should be so open-minded that our brains > fall out. But we can be conscious of our filters. Every feedback-filter > is a closed door. It's possible to get to say, "I will truly listen to > and consider any feedback in any form from anyone and any time", but I'm > not saying that's right for us or for anyone in particular. I'm just > saying to *notice* our filters.
Good reasoning. Taking the matter off-topic is not the way to argue usefully about the issue. But this bit is educational. > Don't just look for the flaws. Ask: how is the Snowden analogy *useful*? I'll take the bait. How is it? How is attacking an old activist from the safety of distance comparable to risking our lives? _______________________________________________ libreplanet-discuss mailing list [email protected] https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
