When we are fully up and running, I hope the first thing that you - or anyone else - notices is that the opinions here will vector in from any direction at all. This is absolutely on purpose.
Personally, I learn by engaging with ideas that are at strong variance with my own, and largely discover what I really think by writing it out. I think that many of us seek out information we basically agree with, but I believe that many people stop there. I tend to read a lot of stuff I violently disagree with because - and this is important - the other viewpoint is sometimes demonstrably right. Or they make an important point. Or they have a point of view with which I am unfamiliar, and which I need to take into account somehow.
Which brings us full circle to this blog.
What this is going to require of everyone here, authors and visitors (yes, I hope we get them), is tolerance and a willing to engage on an intellectual, and not a personal level. Disagreement without being disagreeable.
And there is this. Arguments that lean heavily or primarily on "everyone thinks," "everyone knows," "I think we can all agree," or "most Americans believe" (or some version of any of these) will be Tasered. If an argument cannot stand on its own without an appeal to authority, it cannot stand. Likewise, arguments that consist of "your side is doing it, too!" (tu quoque argumentation) will probably be greeted with cheerful raspberries.
In short, this is an examination of what we think and how we arrived at these viewpoints.
This could be fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment