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Thanks for the link, that's fascinating read! It seems that many people who I would call "intellectually honest" end up developing speech patterns to avoid (1)
by kornish 11y ago
Thanks for the link, that's fascinating read!
It seems that many people who I would call "intellectually honest" end up developing speech patterns to avoid (1) speaking in absolutes; and (2) making statements of opinion articulated as statements of fact. An example of (1) is to use the words "many" or "most" instead of "all". An example of (2) is to start opinions with "I think".
Those speech patterns, though, can lead to writing which is bland and less than forceful, full of justifications with no interesting assertions to be found. One huge plus of this belief metadata, as you note, is that it frees the author to make bold and daring statements (and hopefully back them up) without committing to the truth of those statements. I think it can make for great writing – the style of strong and passionate assertion mixed with (via the disclaimer) the sensibilities of a reasoned opinion.
- jandrese 11y agoI'm having trouble justifying the tradeoff between: "That's well reasoned but far too wishy washy" and "So forceful! So eloquent! Factually wrong but the way you said it completely sold it to me! Amazing!" It's Obama vs. Trump.
- kornish 11y agoSure, except that Trump doesn't make a disclaimer before or after all his statements that he might be wrong to some degree.
- TeMPOraL 11y agoDo you actually believe what you wrote? How sure are you that this is an accurate portrayal of your thoughts? Is it true that this trade-off can be best described "Obama vs. Trump"? Do you expect your opinion to change in time, or stay the same? Write down the answers in a few words, then slap them in brackets at the beginning, and there, you've created your first belief tag :).