“It seems like you are arguing/engaging with something I’m not saying.”
I can remember a argument with a friend who went to great lengths to defend a point he didn’t feel super strongly about, all because he implicitly assumed I was about to go “Given point A, X conclusion, checkmate.”
It seems like a pretty common “argumental movement” is to get someone to agree to a few simple propositions, with the goal of later “trapping” them with a dubious “and therefore!”. People are good at spotting this, and will often fight you on “facts” because they now the conclusion you are trying to reach (ala The Signal and The Corrective).
It seems like my friend was still running the same defensive mechanism, even when there wasn’t intent on my part to trap him in a conclusion.
Often, when someone I’m talking to “argues with something I’m not saying”, I don’t notice in time, and quickly I also end up arguing a point I don’t care about.
“It seems like you are arguing/engaging with something I’m not saying.”
I can remember a argument with a friend who went to great lengths to defend a point he didn’t feel super strongly about, all because he implicitly assumed I was about to go “Given point A, X conclusion, checkmate.”
It seems like a pretty common “argumental movement” is to get someone to agree to a few simple propositions, with the goal of later “trapping” them with a dubious “and therefore!”. People are good at spotting this, and will often fight you on “facts” because they now the conclusion you are trying to reach (ala The Signal and The Corrective).
It seems like my friend was still running the same defensive mechanism, even when there wasn’t intent on my part to trap him in a conclusion.
Often, when someone I’m talking to “argues with something I’m not saying”, I don’t notice in time, and quickly I also end up arguing a point I don’t care about.