4 ms·

A shallow dismissal just makes your position look weak, and theirs stronger by comparison.

• wilg 3y ago
  “look” is the operative word here
  • Cpoll 3y ago
    I suppose it depends whether your goal is communicating your position or just winning a moral victory. "Weak" is the operative word. Being right doesn't do you much favors if you can't communicate it. In this context, "looking" weak is being weak.
    • antisthenes 3y ago
      > Being right doesn't do you much favors if you can't communicate it. In this context, "looking" weak is being weak. No. Function over form.
      • mistermann 3y ago
        Perception is reality - Mother Nature is the arbiter, and you lose.
        • xpe 3y ago
          Both of the points of view have merit. We can move beyond anchoring to just one. How? Hegel has a "three step process": Thesis. Antithesis. Synthesis. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hegel-dialectics/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hegel-dialectics/ One synthesis is this: wise strategies depend on the audience composition and time scale. More people should learn wise ways to quantify future rewards. Reinforcement learning, economics, and finance cover some simple ways. One way is a constant discount factor, but it is not the only nor best way.
        • xpe 3y ago
          > Perception is reality Like most clichés, this is easy to say, but hard to apply. It is imprecise and does not capture its own limitations. These three words don't move us forward; we shouldn't fixate on them; we must move beyond them. Reality exists without perception. It benefits us to clarify the difference. Here are some clearer statements that reflect current philosophical and scientific knowledge: 1. We only perceive a small, incomplete, distorted portion of reality. 2. Human perception is a flawed but useful error-corrected simulation designed to help us survive. 2. Perceptions and beliefs strongly influence individual behavior. 3. Behavior is constrained by reality (perceived or not, believed or not). 4. Over a sufficiently long time scale, individuals and groups who understand reality have a survival advantage. 5. Perceptions can deviate from reality for arbitrarily long time periods.
          • mistermann 3y ago
            The interesting part to me about this theory is this: > Perceptions can deviate from reality for arbitrarily long time periods. According to the theory, this is not [contained within] reality. What if the "obviously" correct model you were raised on is not correct? Possible for Newton's theories, but impossible for something even more complex?
• antisthenes 3y ago
  You're welcome to think so, but position strength is tied to facts, not posts.
  • Cpoll 3y ago
    In that case, "strength" is the wrong metric. If you're posting a shallow response just because the facts align with your position, you're still just wasting people's time. The people who already agree that the article is shallow learn nothing, and the people who don't know the article is shallow also learn nothing. And I agree with you, position strength is tied to facts, which is why writing a shallow dismissal instead of listing some facts leads to a weak position. Incidentally, why are you responding to me and not just saying "you're wrong, I'm done talking to you."