Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Aldarc" data-source="post: 9216174" data-attributes="member: 5142">Obviously I would use the term &quot;negotiation&quot; to describe this, but that is because I think that &quot;discussion&quot; is a weak to meaningless term to describe what is happening. My problem with the language of &quot;disucssion&quot; is that it implies something a bit more casual, rudderless or directionless, and less process-oriented. For example, &quot;My friends and I discussed roleplaying games&quot; or &quot;We had a discussion about the fiction.&quot; What about it? What was the nature of the discussion? What was the purpose of the discussion? Was anything resolved? It's fairly open-ended and vague. It sounds like you are just talking about something without any regard for purpose or process. &quot;Negotiated the fiction&quot; gives a clearer, IMHO, idea of what the discussion is about or the stakes of the discussion. Even if I am clarifying the facts, it's about establishing the common fiction between participants. Negotiation here implies, IMO, a conscientious movement towards consensus regarding the ficiton, resolving it among everyone, and then repeating the process as needed. I understand that the term &quot;negotiation&quot; doesn't work for you. Your mileage varies. It works for me. On the other hand, &quot;discussion&quot; feels like a vague, milquetoast word to describe what's transpiring when you have a &quot;discussion that is just about clarifying the facts.&quot; It doesn't work for me. It tells an incomplete picture.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Aldarc, post: 9216174, member: 5142"] Obviously I would use the term "negotiation" to describe this, but that is because I think that "discussion" is a weak to meaningless term to describe what is happening. My problem with the language of "disucssion" is that it implies something a bit more casual, rudderless or directionless, and less process-oriented. For example, "My friends and I discussed roleplaying games" or "We had a discussion about the fiction." What about it? What was the nature of the discussion? What was the purpose of the discussion? Was anything resolved? It's fairly open-ended and vague. It sounds like you are just talking about something without any regard for purpose or process. "Negotiated the fiction" gives a clearer, IMHO, idea of what the discussion is about or the stakes of the discussion. Even if I am clarifying the facts, it's about establishing the common fiction between participants. Negotiation here implies, IMO, a conscientious movement towards consensus regarding the ficiton, resolving it among everyone, and then repeating the process as needed. I understand that the term "negotiation" doesn't work for you. Your mileage varies. It works for me. On the other hand, "discussion" feels like a vague, milquetoast word to describe what's transpiring when you have a "discussion that is just about clarifying the facts." It doesn't work for me. It tells an incomplete picture. [/QUOTE]

Verification