When reading the piece, it seemed to assume far too much (and many of the assumptions are ones I obviously disagree with). I would call many of the assumptions made to be a relative of the false dichotomy (though I don’t know what it is called when you present more than two possibilities as exhaustive but they really aren’t.) If you were more open in your writing to the idea that you don’t necessarily know what the believers in natural abstractions mean, and that the possibilities mentioned were not exhaustive, I probably would have had a less negative reaction.
When combined with a dismissive tone, many (me included) will read it as hostile, regardless of actual intent (though frustration is actually just as good a possibility for why someone would write in that manner, and genuine confusion over what people believe is also likely). People are always on the lookout for potential hostility it seems (probably a safety related instinct) and usually err on the side of seeing it (though some overcorrect against the instinct instead).
I’m sure I come across as hostile when I write reasonably often though that is rarely my intent.
When reading the piece, it seemed to assume far too much (and many of the assumptions are ones I obviously disagree with). I would call many of the assumptions made to be a relative of the false dichotomy (though I don’t know what it is called when you present more than two possibilities as exhaustive but they really aren’t.) If you were more open in your writing to the idea that you don’t necessarily know what the believers in natural abstractions mean, and that the possibilities mentioned were not exhaustive, I probably would have had a less negative reaction.
When combined with a dismissive tone, many (me included) will read it as hostile, regardless of actual intent (though frustration is actually just as good a possibility for why someone would write in that manner, and genuine confusion over what people believe is also likely). People are always on the lookout for potential hostility it seems (probably a safety related instinct) and usually err on the side of seeing it (though some overcorrect against the instinct instead).
I’m sure I come across as hostile when I write reasonably often though that is rarely my intent.