4 ms·

A "good way to start a dialogue" is by starting with a trick question and likely putting the other person on the defensive?

• evincarofautumn 9y ago
  …No? I wouldn’t consider it a trick question, since I’m not trying to “catch” them or anything. The answer doesn’t even really matter. If we’re talking about “chemicals”, I think it’s a reasonable example to bring up. That is, it’s not about being right or wrong, but making people think more deeply about a topic that I care about. Something I used to do that did make people defensive & dismissive was to try to be technically correct, shit like “everything is chemicals”—which is true, but that’s not the meaning of “chemicals” under discussion, so it’s just smug and pedantic.