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Argument Screens Off Authority (2007)
- PaulHoule 5y agoI've resolved to become a better communicator and lately see the 'rationalist movement' as a foil. Those folks generate a lot of words, speaking in an equivocal tone. They fail to communicate strong points to people outside their pod but the constant name checking and mutual references make it seem that they perceive they're having meaningful communications with each other. I used to get mad but now I seem them as a valuable example of what not to do. --- To simplify his story, here's an example of expertise working as intended. I was taking a calculus class, noticed the prof had taken a derivative like x³ -> x² when he should have written x³ -> 3x² I raised my hand and called this out and he corrected it, glad a student was paying attention. Another student approached me after the class who was shocked that I was so brave to stand up to the professor! As I saw it, the prof and I were both committed to mathematics as a discursive method so of course a senior is going to be responsive to a junior who practices the method of the field. It might be different in history or a writing class, but in math that is the way it is and you don't need Bayes theorem to explain it.