Did you follow the thought up with “How could I test this hypothesis of mine?. What are other alternatives and how do I calculate their probabilities? What biases may I have fallen prey to? Could we both be right?” For example, it might well be that subtitles help you, but do not help her, so the whole argument is moot.
Yes, of course, I realize that there are all kind of subtleties why
one way might be better for some people and something else for others etc.
But, the frightening realization for me was, that in the heat of the
debate my brain can come up with all kind of elaborate
arguments. But because the reason I came up with them was to win the
debate (and not to figure out how the things really are), I am
screwed, no matter how clever are my
arguments. (http://lesswrong.com/lw/js/the_bottom_line/)
And yeah, it would be cool to come up with ways to figure out how the
things really are and how can we test our hypotheses. But, now I think
that this is really-really hard: to switch in that mode of thinking
in the middle of an argument. The best I could do, was to let it go
and walk away. (And write this post; maybe someone else comes up with
a better idea. :))
Did you follow the thought up with “How could I test this hypothesis of mine?. What are other alternatives and how do I calculate their probabilities? What biases may I have fallen prey to? Could we both be right?” For example, it might well be that subtitles help you, but do not help her, so the whole argument is moot.
Yes, of course, I realize that there are all kind of subtleties why one way might be better for some people and something else for others etc.
But, the frightening realization for me was, that in the heat of the debate my brain can come up with all kind of elaborate arguments. But because the reason I came up with them was to win the debate (and not to figure out how the things really are), I am screwed, no matter how clever are my arguments. (http://lesswrong.com/lw/js/the_bottom_line/)
And yeah, it would be cool to come up with ways to figure out how the things really are and how can we test our hypotheses. But, now I think that this is really-really hard: to switch in that mode of thinking in the middle of an argument. The best I could do, was to let it go and walk away. (And write this post; maybe someone else comes up with a better idea. :))
This could be one way, if applied to oneself.
Thanks for the link, looks very relevant!