I understand where you are coming from (asking why this house is not blue is often perceived as implying that this house should be blue) -- but do you think there’s any way to at least tone down this implication without putting in an explicit disclaimer?
do you think there’s any way to at least tone down this implication without putting in an explicit disclaimer?
Well, if that were my goal, one thing I would try to avoid is getting into a dynamic where I ask people why they avoid X, and then when they provide some reasons I reply with counterarguments.
Also, when articulating possible reasons for avoiding X, I would take some care with the emotional connotations of my wording. This is of course difficult, but one easy way to better approximate it is to describe both the pro-X and anti-X positions using the same kind of language, rather than describing just one and leaving the other unmarked.
More generally, assymetry in how I handle the pro-X and anti-X cases will tend to get read as suggesting partiality; if I want to express impartiality, I would cultivate symmetry.
That said, it’s probably easier to just express my preferences as preferences.
avoid is getting into a dynamic where I ask people why they avoid X, and then when they provide some reasons I reply with counterarguments
I think it’s fine. Reasons that people provide might be strong or might be weak—it’s OK to tap on them to see if they would fall down. I would do the same thing to comments which (potentially) said “Yay images, we need more of them!”.
In general, I would prefer not to anchor the expectations of the thread participants, but not at the price of interference with figuring out of what does the territory actually look like.
describe both the pro-X and anti-X positions using the same kind of language
I didn’t (and still don’t) have a position to describe. Summarizing arguments pro and con seemed premature. This really was just a simple open question without a hidden agenda.
I understand where you are coming from (asking why this house is not blue is often perceived as implying that this house should be blue) -- but do you think there’s any way to at least tone down this implication without putting in an explicit disclaimer?
Well, if that were my goal, one thing I would try to avoid is getting into a dynamic where I ask people why they avoid X, and then when they provide some reasons I reply with counterarguments.
Another thing I would try to avoid is not questioning comments which seem to support doing X, for example by pointing out that it’s easy to do, but questioning comments which seem to challenge those comments.
Also, when articulating possible reasons for avoiding X, I would take some care with the emotional connotations of my wording. This is of course difficult, but one easy way to better approximate it is to describe both the pro-X and anti-X positions using the same kind of language, rather than describing just one and leaving the other unmarked.
More generally, assymetry in how I handle the pro-X and anti-X cases will tend to get read as suggesting partiality; if I want to express impartiality, I would cultivate symmetry.
That said, it’s probably easier to just express my preferences as preferences.
I think it’s fine. Reasons that people provide might be strong or might be weak—it’s OK to tap on them to see if they would fall down. I would do the same thing to comments which (potentially) said “Yay images, we need more of them!”.
In general, I would prefer not to anchor the expectations of the thread participants, but not at the price of interference with figuring out of what does the territory actually look like.
I didn’t (and still don’t) have a position to describe. Summarizing arguments pro and con seemed premature. This really was just a simple open question without a hidden agenda.
All right.
You could put a “light” disclaimer, like “I’m curious” or “(not that I’m complaining)”.
Edit (post downvote): (not that I’m saying you should have) :D