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Interesting, my take is that criticizing ideas rather than people leads to better discourse, primarily because it automatically makes things less personal, whic
by keeda 2y ago
Interesting, my take is that criticizing ideas rather than people leads to better discourse, primarily because it automatically makes things less personal, which tends to keep the tone of conversation neutral. That is not to say that ideas should not be attributed to people, but I always try to frame my writing as "argument X is wrong" rather than "you are wrong" because it is more specific and feels less like a personal attack.
- satisfice 2y agoIf you argue with someone who is drunk and don’t realize it, getting ever more annoyed at the bad logic, and then a pal takes you aside and says “dude, that guy is wasted… he probably doesn’t know what he’s saying right now” do you say to him “Ah my friend one should not criticize a person, but only his ideas!” and go back to the argument? If a restaurant serves food that makes people sick, should the health department not shut them down because one should only care about the food itself and not consider the unsanitary practices which produced it? Of course ideas are ultimately the concern of thoughtful people, but to avoid wasting precious time, we must consider the process that produces those ideas. This is why reputation matters. All that aside, sometimes people are up to no good. There really are cheaters and fakes out there— and more of them than you might think. My field is full of bullshitters. I just saw an ad for an AI-based test tool that they say makes “manual testing” obsolete. I think the people behind that tool have no care at all for responsible behavior. They want to cash in on the hype.