In which I use an ungodly amount of big words, but truly say nothing.
You May Be Right, I May Be Crazy
In order to comprehensively participate in a rational, intelligent discussion, basic ground rules must be laid down and adhered to. Most of these make sense not just for the sake of argument, but also for life as well. Participating in any sort of argument, whether it is for educational, experimental, or other purposes, is not about who is the most convicted, but who is the most correct about a given topic. History is riddled with examples of people who have been very convincing, passionate speakers, but more than a little remiss in the validations of their actions. The ideal attitude to take when entering into an argument can be taken from the title of Charles Barkley’s 2002 memoirs, I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt it.
There is a fine line between being confident in one’s own evidence and argument and blindly defending or advancing one’s argument merely because it is one’s own. Entering into a supposedly rational discussion under the pretense that nobody else knows anything and that this discussion is purely for the exercise of discussion techniques, is ludicrous. For every second that passes, there are hundreds, if not thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people around the world that are undeniably wrong. It is human nature. We screw up. Outside of sufficient evidence, what entitles Person A to the satisfaction of being “right” more than Person B?
Not a single thing.
In fact, to presume as much, is pompous and arrogant and quite frankly, a discredit to whatever validity the presumptuous party may have had.I also fucking hate that if one thing is underlined, lj feels compelled to underline the whole fucking thing.