The distinction Professor Quirrell makes is a useful one but I think it’s a mistake to apply it at the level of people, as if some people were Average Joes who just want to kill time on the internet and some people are Serious Arguers who want to make intellectual progress. Anyone can be both at different times. I suspect most people, even those who are valuable as Serious Arguers, are more often in Average Joe mode, and I am not convinced that that’s a problem.
To whatever extent that’s right, the way to have more long-running discussions with Serious Arguers is to present things in a way that encourage Serious Arguer mode rather than Average Joe mode. To whatever extent it’s wrong, what you need to do is to attract people who are more Serious Arguers than Average Joes.
(This may be stating the obvious, but it seems worth making it explicit.)
And speaking of switching between modes, before writing this comment I took a break to watch Frank Caliendo impersonate Charles Barkley on YouTube. That’s low class enough where we might need a new category beneath Average Joe.
The distinction Professor Quirrell makes is a useful one but I think it’s a mistake to apply it at the level of people, as if some people were Average Joes who just want to kill time on the internet and some people are Serious Arguers who want to make intellectual progress. Anyone can be both at different times. I suspect most people, even those who are valuable as Serious Arguers, are more often in Average Joe mode, and I am not convinced that that’s a problem.
To whatever extent that’s right, the way to have more long-running discussions with Serious Arguers is to present things in a way that encourage Serious Arguer mode rather than Average Joe mode. To whatever extent it’s wrong, what you need to do is to attract people who are more Serious Arguers than Average Joes.
(This may be stating the obvious, but it seems worth making it explicit.)
Good points, I agree with them all.
And speaking of switching between modes, before writing this comment I took a break to watch Frank Caliendo impersonate Charles Barkley on YouTube. That’s low class enough where we might need a new category beneath Average Joe.