4 ms·

I do this on Hackernews sometimes. I just state my opinion, however weakly held, and wait for it to be torn apart, where I learn a lot, and all my biases are re

I do this on Hackernews sometimes. I just state my opinion, however weakly held, and wait for it to be torn apart, where I learn a lot, and all my biases are revealed to me. That's how learning works: you challenge your own assumptions, or let your assumptions to be challenged by others.

eska 6y ago
What is this in your first sentence? The technique that is being criticized as wrong here? That's not what this article is introducing.
- jermier 6y ago
  By this I mean /stating my opinion/ or more precisely, revealing various unconscious biases I may have towards a subject. Sometimes stating an opinion is making the unconscious, conscious, and then learning the truth about a subject by the insights and replies of others. In other words, I'm shooting in the dark most of the time on HN and waiting to hit a target, or some truth I can salvage from the replies of others.
  - cutemonster 6y ago
    Did you try this in real life?
notacoward 6y ago
> wait for it to be torn apart, where I learn a lot That's probably fine somewhere like HN, but I'd warn people against doing it too much IRL. I have an ex-friend who liked to play the "you just need to" game as a primary learning technique. I say ex-friend because I got tired of the initial implication that his few minutes' of thought could overturn lessons it might have taken me years to learn, until I did the labor of educating him. Maybe some of that was a "me thing" except that he has several other ex-friends for the same reason. I have other still-friends who are a bit less extreme about it, but it's generally not a relationship-positive behavior.
gklefnbkon 6y ago
That does work to educate you, but has the side effect of distorting the discussion here. For instance, I'll see a bunch of comments recommending a particular approach for writing software. I might come away thinking most of HN approves of that approach, and so there must be something to it. But what if all those comments are just people trying out the idea, in hopes that other people will tear it apart? I don't think there's anything wrong with qualifying your opinions. You can still get people to challenge you on them. Isn't that why people start their sentences with "for sake of argument" or "playing devils advocate"?
- cutemonster 6y ago
  What about adding "??" after such "show me how I'm wrong" statements? Ppl would still reply I think, but fewer/no one would be fooled?

eska 6y ago

What is this in your first sentence? The technique that is being criticized as wrong here? That's not what this article is introducing.

jermier 6y ago
By this I mean /stating my opinion/ or more precisely, revealing various unconscious biases I may have towards a subject. Sometimes stating an opinion is making the unconscious, conscious, and then learning the truth about a subject by the insights and replies of others. In other words, I'm shooting in the dark most of the time on HN and waiting to hit a target, or some truth I can salvage from the replies of others.
- cutemonster 6y ago
  Did you try this in real life?

notacoward 6y ago

> wait for it to be torn apart, where I learn a lot That's probably fine somewhere like HN, but I'd warn people against doing it too much IRL. I have an ex-friend who liked to play the "you just need to" game as a primary learning technique. I say ex-friend because I got tired of the initial implication that his few minutes' of thought could overturn lessons it might have taken me years to learn, until I did the labor of educating him. Maybe some of that was a "me thing" except that he has several other ex-friends for the same reason. I have other still-friends who are a bit less extreme about it, but it's generally not a relationship-positive behavior.

gklefnbkon 6y ago

That does work to educate you, but has the side effect of distorting the discussion here. For instance, I'll see a bunch of comments recommending a particular approach for writing software. I might come away thinking most of HN approves of that approach, and so there must be something to it. But what if all those comments are just people trying out the idea, in hopes that other people will tear it apart? I don't think there's anything wrong with qualifying your opinions. You can still get people to challenge you on them. Isn't that why people start their sentences with "for sake of argument" or "playing devils advocate"?

cutemonster 6y ago
What about adding "??" after such "show me how I'm wrong" statements? Ppl would still reply I think, but fewer/no one would be fooled?