Humanianity Meetup Disucssion Etiquette
Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2017 8:12 am
Not sure where to place this comment, as there is no "Humanianity Meertup" subject area in this forum. So....
In continuation of the discussion at the last meetup (June 7th) , I'd like to clarify what I was saying when we ran out of time. Indeed, I agree it is not necessary—or appropriate—for people to always preface their statements with "I think" or "in my opinion". However, when someone is building an arguing using a set of 3-4 propositions—each of which depends on the other—my preference is to give people in the group an opportunity to agree on a stated proposition before moving to the next one in your argument. Instead of stating the proposition as fact and assuming agreement, I believe it appropriate for their to be a pause, and a question asked—"do you agree?”—before moving on to the next proposition in the argument. Failure to do that on a consistent basis helps prime people and move them—irrationally—towards agreement because it is much more difficult to dispute propositions made 3-4 minutes ago after other propositions have been built on them. In this situation, there becomes a need to take notes during the discussion of the propositions in complex arguments—like an attorney or debater does—in order to keep accurate track and examine them. In a debate or cross examination situation that would be appropriate, but I don’t feel it appropriate in a Humanianity meetup group.
In continuation of the discussion at the last meetup (June 7th) , I'd like to clarify what I was saying when we ran out of time. Indeed, I agree it is not necessary—or appropriate—for people to always preface their statements with "I think" or "in my opinion". However, when someone is building an arguing using a set of 3-4 propositions—each of which depends on the other—my preference is to give people in the group an opportunity to agree on a stated proposition before moving to the next one in your argument. Instead of stating the proposition as fact and assuming agreement, I believe it appropriate for their to be a pause, and a question asked—"do you agree?”—before moving on to the next proposition in the argument. Failure to do that on a consistent basis helps prime people and move them—irrationally—towards agreement because it is much more difficult to dispute propositions made 3-4 minutes ago after other propositions have been built on them. In this situation, there becomes a need to take notes during the discussion of the propositions in complex arguments—like an attorney or debater does—in order to keep accurate track and examine them. In a debate or cross examination situation that would be appropriate, but I don’t feel it appropriate in a Humanianity meetup group.