Dear Gentlebeings, I've noticed a disturbing trend in our discussions that I'd like to call to your attention.
I'm observing an increased tendency to debate through "truth by assertion". This happens when someone baldly states "A is true" without rationale or explanation. This is not productive as it does not provide any mechanism to convince the reader of the veracity of the statement. Our goal is to convince one another of the correctness of particular positions. Simply being repetitive or vocal doesn't foster that, and in fact can work to our detriment by convincing our listeners that we have no rationale and simply are out to filibuster. That costs the speaker in respect. A closely related falacy is "refutation by assertion". This is typified by the response "No, you're wrong.", again without explanation. When these are combined, they can degenerate into pointless yes/no exchanges. Yes, I realize that these are common errors and examined over the long term, probably no one is immune, yours truly included. Can we please watch our postings for these tactical errors? Regards, Tony _______________________________________________ rrg mailing list [email protected] https://www.irtf.org/mailman/listinfo/rrg
