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This was a great article. A practical question came to mind while reading it: Now that bad-faith communication has become normalized, does it makes sense to kee
by pohl 5y ago
This was a great article. A practical question came to mind while reading it: Now that bad-faith communication has become normalized, does it makes sense to keep bringing good-faith communication to a bad-faith communication fight?
Obviously it would be ideal to model the behavior that we'd like to see in the world, but what if this toothpaste can't be put back into the tube? Brandolini's Law suggests that this might be a cultural "innovation" akin to the invention of gunpowder.
- adamisom 5y agoI think it does make sense. I love this relevant classic SSC article: https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/02/23/in-favor-of-niceness-community-and-civilization/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/02/23/in-favor-of-niceness-c...
- pohl 5y agoI'm sure that to someone carrying a knife for protection also thinks it "makes sense" — and I'm sure it actually does in some contexts. In a gunfight, however, does it still?
- AlexCoventry 5y agoThe article implies that there are productive ways to engage a bad-faith interlocutor in good faith. It's a shame it doesn't go into any details about what that looks like.
- pohl 5y agoYeah, productive ways exist, but is that enough? Again, thinking of Brandolini's Law, it would need to be an order of magnitive more productive than before in order to reach parity.