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> Rather than trying to have the last word, look for the times when there is no need to reply, perhaps because you already made the relevant point clear enough.
by TotempaaltJ 8y ago
> Rather than trying to have the last word, look for the times when there is no need to reply, perhaps because you already made the relevant point clear enough. If you know something about the game of Go, this analogy might clarify that: when the opponent's move is not strong enough to require a direct response, it is advantageous to give it none and instead move elsewhere.
I love this analogy of why not responding might be your best option.
- bjt2n3904 8y agoPerhaps the most overlooked part of the document. This is something I struggle with, a mentality of "everything must be logically evaluated and upvoted or downvoted". Sometimes, there doesn't need to be a response.
- whiddershins 8y agoI was very influenced when I read Paul Graham’s assertion that comment quality tends to be inversely proportional to reply depth. I can’t find the reference but I really took that to heart, and try as hard as I can to avoid replying to a reply to one of my comments, here and elsewhere. The exception would be if I was very unclear originally, or if someone asks something specific that only I can answer. What’s interesting is how effective this seems to be. If my original statement is worth defending usually someone else will chime in. Otherwise it’s a great mental exercise to just let the criticism stand, and try to think how to be more airtight in the future.
- hueving 8y agoThat's a good pointer maybe for debate threads but it's not a good way to have a real conversation.