however, tone arguments aren’t about epistemic norms, they’re about people’s feelings
One interesting idea here is that people’s feelings are actually based on their beliefs (this is for instance one of the main ideas behind CBT, Focusing, and Internal Double Crux).
If I make people feel bad about being able to express certain parts of themselves, I’m creating an epistemic environment where there are certain beliefs they feel less comfortable sharing. The steelmanned tone argument is “By not being polite, you’re creating an environment where it’s harder to share opposing beliefs, because you’re painting the people who hold those beliefs as bad people”
In other words, in an environment where people feel comfortable not being judged about their self-image, you’re more able to have frank discussions about peoples’ actual beliefs.
One interesting idea here is that people’s feelings are actually based on their beliefs (this is for instance one of the main ideas behind CBT, Focusing, and Internal Double Crux).
If I make people feel bad about being able to express certain parts of themselves, I’m creating an epistemic environment where there are certain beliefs they feel less comfortable sharing. The steelmanned tone argument is “By not being polite, you’re creating an environment where it’s harder to share opposing beliefs, because you’re painting the people who hold those beliefs as bad people”
In other words, in an environment where people feel comfortable not being judged about their self-image, you’re more able to have frank discussions about peoples’ actual beliefs.