The "I Didn't Comment in Another Thread" Thread

[Cadence]

I just misread something as antagonostic (instead of -istic)... and now I'm wondering about a sect dedicated to antagonosticisim.

 

[overgeeked]

Sometimes people just need to read comments with a bit of a more generous attitude, instead of jumping to the conclusion that someone is stating what they think is an objective fact

A whole lot of internet arguments seem to boil down to people going out of their way to find some pointlessly stupid thing to argue about and/or willfully reading others’ posts in the worst way possible in order to argue. “But you didn’t say ‘in my opinion’ at the start of your post…” is a clear example of that. If someone’s that pedantic they’re not worth responding to.

 

[overgeeked]

Also, for the actual topic of the thread…

It’s impossible to have an honest conversation with someone who’s holding a gun to your head.

 

[Ryujin]

Funny, when I teach writing I tell students to get rid of qualifiers like "I think" unless absolutely necessary in favor of 1. a more confident tone in your writing, and 2. using more engaging qualifiers that brings your reader into the way you are thinking. So for example, instead of "I think pineapple pizza is good," something like, "It is important to consider that pineapple pizza is good, in order to. . ."

That's something I learnt, long ago, when writing business communications. It carries over into my daily life. Whether or not I intend to write as if trying to steer someone to my school of thought it seems to come out that way, though that shouldn't be interpreted as my attempting to present something as fact. If it is then that's on the reader, not me. There's a definite difference.

 

[Ryujin]

A whole lot of internet arguments seem to boil down to people going out of their way to find some pointlessly stupid thing to argue about and/or willfully reading others’ posts in the worst way possible in order to argue. “But you didn’t say ‘in my opinion’ at the start of your post…” is a clear example of that. If someone’s that pedantic they’re not worth responding to.

At times I have essentially been forced to say "in my opinion" because someone has been wilfully interpreting my statements of opinion, as if I was presenting them as fact.

 

[prabe]

If someone fails to understand something you wrote, it's worth considering the possibility you didn't write it as clearly as you intended to. Not all failure to understand can be laid at the feet of the reader.

 

[J.Quondam]

A whole lot of internet arguments seem to boil down to people going out of their way to find some pointlessly stupid thing to argue about and/or willfully reading others’ posts in the worst way possible in order to argue. “But you didn’t say ‘in my opinion’ at the start of your post…” is a clear example of that. If someone’s that pedantic they’re not worth responding to.

 

[el-remmen]

If someone fails to understand something you wrote, it's worth considering the possibility you didn't write it as clearly as you intended to. Not all failure to understand can be laid at the feet of the reader.

You won't get an argument from me! This is why one of the exercises I do with students is breaking them into groups of three or four, share their drafts, and then have to listen to what the others in the group think the sample is saying (without getting to respond until they are done).

 

[Ryujin]

If someone fails to understand something you wrote, it's worth considering the possibility you didn't write it as clearly as you intended to. Not all failure to understand can be laid at the feet of the reader.

Certainly not, however, some people just want to interpret things the way that they want to interpret them. On this board there have been several times that I've been berated for AGREEING with a poster.

 

[el-remmen]

Certainly not, however, some people just want to interpret things the way that they want to interpret them. On this board there have been several times that I've been berated for AGREEING with a poster.

My favorite is when someone posts X, I spend the time to explain why I think X is wrong and it is actually Y, and they return to say they meant Y all along! It feels like gaslighting.