“Arguments end where questions begin.” How I wish I could remember where I read that sentence. It helped me reduce my use of rhetorical questions. Since then my writing is more clear (sometimes more clearly wrong I’m sure) and more friendly.
Instead of thinking of laws as rules that have an existence above and beyond the objects they govern, think of them as particularly concise and powerful descriptions of regular behavior.
The rest is commentary. I might emphasize the predictive utility of natural laws more than their descriptive utility.
“Arguments end where questions begin.” How I wish I could remember where I read that sentence. It helped me reduce my use of rhetorical questions. Since then my writing is more clear (sometimes more clearly wrong I’m sure) and more friendly.
Thanks for this. It seems like very sound advice, and I’ll endeavor to keep it in mind in the future.
See, I read that quote, and come to a completely different conclusion: You -should- ask questions.
But then, I think good questions are more valuable, and harder to come by, than good answers. Everybody has answers. Questions are where interesting things happen.
I may have been unclear. The quote “arguments end where questions begin” addresses the use of rhetorical questions as a substitute for building an argument or the use of rhetorical questions as a way to change the subject. The quote does not address questions in general. We are in agreement that questions in general are good.
“Arguments end where questions begin.” How I wish I could remember where I read that sentence. It helped me reduce my use of rhetorical questions. Since then my writing is more clear (sometimes more clearly wrong I’m sure) and more friendly.
The rest is commentary. I might emphasize the predictive utility of natural laws more than their descriptive utility.
Thanks for this. It seems like very sound advice, and I’ll endeavor to keep it in mind in the future.
See, I read that quote, and come to a completely different conclusion: You -should- ask questions.
But then, I think good questions are more valuable, and harder to come by, than good answers. Everybody has answers. Questions are where interesting things happen.
I may have been unclear. The quote “arguments end where questions begin” addresses the use of rhetorical questions as a substitute for building an argument or the use of rhetorical questions as a way to change the subject. The quote does not address questions in general. We are in agreement that questions in general are good.