This last post was just an introduction, so I'll just start with a request.
Since this is a blog and people will be posting comments, I would like to impress on everybody the grave importance of commenting civilly. Commenting civilly means several things. First, it means trying to properly understand what people are saying. Maybe you don't even disagree with the person in question. Secondly, it means properly handling disagreement. In the third place, civility means proper choice of words.
Properly understanding what people are saying is crucial to engaging with them. This is all the more the case when discussing controversial political topics (although I probably won't talk much about that on this blog) as political discussion often involves straw men, poor arguments, and shallow slogans.
When disagreement exists, it must be handled properly. The proper way to handle disagreement is to focus on the idea, not the person. Realize that there is a great variety of opinions in the world, and, although they cannot all be correct, those who hold views contrary to yours cannot all be ignorant, stupid, or whatever. Calling people names does not prove them wrong, it just makes things unpleasant. Treat people's ideas with respect, too. Civil discussion can be very illuminating if people are willing to seriously consider and critique one another's opinions. Mean speech causes people to close their minds, while civil speech makes people more open and more ready to think.
My last point is about words. The dictionary contains quite enough archaic, convoluted, and colorful descriptors that the only excuse for using profanity is habit or cultural forces. I'm not going to be some kind of super-strict sensor, but I will say that those who use profanity in their comments do so at the risk of seriously lowering themselves in my estimation and lowering the caliber of social interaction to be had on this blog.
I hope that this blog can be a place where people can civilly and intellectually discuss things without launching the online equivalent of a barroom brawl. If we strive to be civil to one another on this blog, we will all benefit.
Since this is a blog and people will be posting comments, I would like to impress on everybody the grave importance of commenting civilly. Commenting civilly means several things. First, it means trying to properly understand what people are saying. Maybe you don't even disagree with the person in question. Secondly, it means properly handling disagreement. In the third place, civility means proper choice of words.
Properly understanding what people are saying is crucial to engaging with them. This is all the more the case when discussing controversial political topics (although I probably won't talk much about that on this blog) as political discussion often involves straw men, poor arguments, and shallow slogans.
When disagreement exists, it must be handled properly. The proper way to handle disagreement is to focus on the idea, not the person. Realize that there is a great variety of opinions in the world, and, although they cannot all be correct, those who hold views contrary to yours cannot all be ignorant, stupid, or whatever. Calling people names does not prove them wrong, it just makes things unpleasant. Treat people's ideas with respect, too. Civil discussion can be very illuminating if people are willing to seriously consider and critique one another's opinions. Mean speech causes people to close their minds, while civil speech makes people more open and more ready to think.
My last point is about words. The dictionary contains quite enough archaic, convoluted, and colorful descriptors that the only excuse for using profanity is habit or cultural forces. I'm not going to be some kind of super-strict sensor, but I will say that those who use profanity in their comments do so at the risk of seriously lowering themselves in my estimation and lowering the caliber of social interaction to be had on this blog.
I hope that this blog can be a place where people can civilly and intellectually discuss things without launching the online equivalent of a barroom brawl. If we strive to be civil to one another on this blog, we will all benefit.
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