How To Have A Rational Discussion

[MichaelB]

How To Have A Rational Discussion « Thought Catalog

I wonder if they used the discussions from this forum as a baseline for this model?
Click on the image for a larger view.

 

[MasterBlaster]

In an ideal world, that would be just... ideal

But, I wouldn't count on it here.

 

[Bimmerbill]

If I want an rational discussion I talk to myself.

 

[Nords]

I wonder if they used the discussions from this forum as a baseline for this model?

Not if they expect the discussion to stay on topic...

I like Paul Graham's approach:
How to Disagree

 

[kcowan]

Not if they expect the discussion to stay on topic...

I like Paul Graham's approach:
How to Disagree

Now that looks like a manual I can use!

 

[ls99]

1/2, 3/4 & 5/16.

 

[haha]

I think it might be a mistake to open yourself up to having your mind changed by what someone says on the internet. If your current position expresses what information you have been able to gather, and your value parameters, and your experience of results in life, how is what someone says on the interent likely to be an improvement?

If someone offers new and verifiable information, or an opinion that I have come to respect over time, I would definitely try to add it as an element in my decision making process. Short of that, I believe that my approaches are likely superior (for me) to any random ideas I might pick up from variably informed and motivated strangers with value systems that may be quite different from mine.

So, if Leonidas tells me something might land me in jail, I'm not going to do it! Likewise, if Brewer says some insurance company is not to be trusted, I'm not going to trust them. If Martha or Gumby says you need a lawyer to figure this out, I am going to get a lawyer. If Tryan says REOs are the place to look for real estate buys, I am going to try to get informed about how to do this. If any of the board women say "girls usually don't like that", I am going to figure that being experienced women they know, and will modify my attitudes and behavior.

But if someone else says high taxes are good, etc etc, I am very unlikely to pay any attention. What they mean is high taxes are good for them, or for someone close to them. (Like the woman who is paying their bills.) It may also be that it flatters their their conception of how a good person should think, or whatever. One thing it won't be is a hard fact, or an unassailable opinion. It can't be, as these will always be controversial questions with many reasonable or at least reasonable sounding viewpoints.

Ha

 

[kcowan]

I think we all tend to underestimate the effects that conversations such as here have on our life outlooks. We are the product of all our experiences. For us to demean such experiences is to rob the other participants here of any chance to have felt that they made a difference to others.

Otherwise why waste the time?

 

[haha]

I think we all tend to underestimate the effects that conversations such as here have on our life outlooks. We are the product of all our experiences. For us to demean such experiences is to rob the other participants here of any chance to have felt that they made a difference to others.

Otherwise why waste the time?

If a person's feeling of having made a difference to others depends on changing strangers' minds on the internet, that guy is on thin ice.

But it would explain some of the life and death arguments around here.

As far as wasting time, isn't that what many things are for? TV, video games, most movies- all nothing more than distractions, which I think we all need and seek in our own ways, in varying degrees.

Ha

 

[Bestwifeever]

I don't care who posts them, I'm going to laugh at the funny jokes. No preauthorized expertise required.

 

[pimpmyretirement]

Most people have been this guy at some point:

xkcd: Duty Calls

 

[bbbamI]

I don't care who posts them, I'm going to laugh at the funny jokes. No preauthorized expertise required.

I agree!

I enjoy a lively discussion. Whether it's here or in my 'real' life.

It seems to me as I get older, I listen more to other people's opinions...instead of just shutting them out. That doesn't mean I always agree with them...but I think it allows me to have more of an open mind.

I'm eager to taste a new flavor.

 

[Midpack]

Most forums ends up in the "this is not a discussion" box early on, political forums are the absolute worst (and I don't belong to any devoted to politics). This forum seems better than most, but I am sure we all have at least some topics we're not open to new ideas about. And for those who can't be open-minded on any subject, that's what IGNORE is for...

 

[GregLee]

I read through the flow chart with some care, and I failed to find anything at all I could agree with. I think it's all wrong.

 

[chinaco]

Uh well... that depends... [in my best Robert De Niro voice] You talkin' to me!

YouTube - You talkin to me Robert De Niro Taxidriver

I suppose we are all guilty of logic and decorum violations at one time or another.

But hey... whats wrong with a few cheap shots amongst friends? Besides, the offended seems to have no problems returning the favor!

 

[haha]

If someone offers new and verifiable information, or an opinion that I have come to respect over time, I would definitely try to add it as an element in my decision making process. Short of that, I believe that my approaches are likely superior (for me) to any random ideas I might pick up from variably informed and motivated strangers with value systems that may be quite different from mine.

Ha

I saw this post and I am not happy with it, so I am returning to it. I may have given an impression that does not fully reflect my feelings. I have been helped by many posts from many people. I do usually read the threads that are more concerned with factual things than the pure opinion threads, but I get into those also.

I have thought about this issue a fair amount. I felt that during the downturn in 08-09, and the subsequent recovery that it might have been better for me to just go off the board for a while. Random ideas, some affected by the very stressful market conditions, can be hard to resist. We are all social animals, and moods are catching.

On the other hand, this board is full of people who are genuine experts on many things, many things that I really don't now and never will know very much about. So when I or someone else asks a question, and board members answer, it is always helpful to me.

And like some others mentioned, I enjoy the humor, and the very real concern for other members that is very often evident here.

Ha

 

[Midpack]

I will add that this is the second most civilized forum I've ever actively participated in, and I've been a part of about a dozen over the years. Only Bogleheads is more buttoned down than this place IMO, bad actors are tolerated even less there than here (a good thing IMO). Some forums border on chaos, I don't see the attraction at all at those sites...

 

[Arnie]

Can you envision anything that will change your mind on this topic?

I fail on the first question. If I could envision it wouldn't I have already processed it? On the other hand, I agree to consider (at least some of) those things I had not envisioned. Now I just wish I had a funny joke to tell.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

I wonder if they used the discussions from this forum as a baseline for this model?

Are you sure?

 

[Amethyst]

In the flow chart, I would have added a "fail" node for anyone who raises his or her voice to make a point. I think one reason I rarely get upset in Internet discussions is that there is no audio track.

Amethyst

 

[bbbamI]

In the flow chart, I would have added a "fail" node for anyone who raises his or her voice to make a point. I think one reason I rarely get upset in Internet discussions is that there is no audio track.

Amethyst

Yep...and we can't interupt each other...

 

[Bestwifeever]

I saw this post and I am not happy with it, so I am returning to it. I may have given an impression that does not fully reflect my feelings. I have been helped by many posts from many people. I do usually read the threads that are more concerned with factual things than the pure opinion threads, but I get into those also.

I have thought about this issue a fair amount. I felt that during the downturn in 08-09, and the subsequent recovery that it might have been better for me to just go off the board for a while. Random ideas, some affected by the very stressful market conditions, can be hard to resist. We are all social animals, and moods are catching.

On the other hand, this board is full of people who are genuine experts on many things, many things that I really don't now and never will know very much about. So when I or someone else asks a question, and board members answer, it is always helpful to me.

And like some others mentioned, I enjoy the humor, and the very real concern for other members that is very often evident here.

Ha

I'm glad you posted this expanded consideration, Ha, as I am sure that very few of my posts meet anyone's standards of providing valuable information (just like in my real life!) but somehow I can't stop myself from posting anyway.

I appreciate the people who ask questions here about their portfolios or other financial decisions and the people who respond to them--it all gets added to the mesh of existing material that floats around in my brain and gets filtered in some kind of random decision tree if I find myself in a similar situation.

For example, not sure I'll find myself shopping at the Goodwill store yet, but I'm super impressed by what some people find there (Freebird I believe just snapped up some fancy shoe clips). And although I'll never be in a position to spend $300K a year, such fun to imagine it.

 

[Nords]

i think one reason i rarely get upset in internet discussions is that there is no audio track.

I think there is!!!*

*[I tried to type that in uppercase, but vBulletin seems to be turning down the audio track...]

 

[Amethyst]

Oh, Nords, if anybody should know the difference between verbal abuse on screen and verbal abuse in person, it's a submariner or any kind of sailor!

I cannot stand being loudly talked at, unless it's a noisy environment or something. I will leave an argument, rather than let a shouter/ranter hurt my ears and blood pressure.

Amethyst

I think there is!!!*

*[I tried to type that in uppercase, but vBulletin seems to be turning down the audio track...]

 

[rescueme]

I think one reason I rarely get upset in Internet discussions is that there is no audio track.

But you can always add your own:

Absolute Sound Effects Archive