I think you (and Wikipedia and Scott) are limiting your ideas of what the principle really means. _IF_ you only care about rationality, it’s about assuming rationality. For those of us in conversations where we _ALSO_ care about intent, nuance, and connotation, it can include assuming goodwill and best intentions of your conversational partners.
In all cases, the assumption is only a prior—you’re getting a lot of evidence in the discussion, and you don’t need to cling to a false belief when shown that your opponent and their statements are not correct or useful.
I think you (and Wikipedia and Scott) are limiting your ideas of what the principle really means. _IF_ you only care about rationality, it’s about assuming rationality. For those of us in conversations where we _ALSO_ care about intent, nuance, and connotation, it can include assuming goodwill and best intentions of your conversational partners.
In all cases, the assumption is only a prior—you’re getting a lot of evidence in the discussion, and you don’t need to cling to a false belief when shown that your opponent and their statements are not correct or useful.