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Yes let’s always take texts at face value, regardless of context. There’s no reason to point out that your relative who says everyone in his life is conspiring
by CPLX 7y ago
Yes let’s always take texts at face value, regardless of context.
There’s no reason to point out that your relative who says everyone in his life is conspiring against him is addicted to meth.
There is no reason to notice when an essay opposing increased mall security was written by someone who’s been convicted of shoplifting dozens of times.
And we must never point out that a person advocating for the political status quo, and against shaking up the established order, has accumulated billions of dollars in private wealth.
- edmundsauto 7y agoIn those situations, it's appropriate to point out potential biases or agenda from the author, but it is not appropriate to reinterpret their words based on a mental model one has of the author. That model is likely to be flawed and incomplete, but even worse, it makes the text subjective. Two people, reading the same text, won't agree what it said. That prevents honest discussion.
- tomlockwood 7y agoThere's no such thing as an objective reading of a text. All readings are subjective. All models are incomplete - that's why they're models.