I have upvoted this as a good analysis of propaganda techniques (no offence intended). What you write seems generally true, however I am a little bit afraid that learning too much of the communication skills can actually hurt a discussion, since the content is diluted in signalling noise. It isn’t a good thing when a criticism induces offended feelings in most of the criticised, on the other hand, it isn’t a good thing either when the main message is nearly lost between disclaimers, or when it’s never said because it’s too hard to avoid all possible mistakes in formulation, context and precision. To strive for perfection is a noble thing to do, but, as Churchill said, it can paralyse you.
I agree it’s possible to err too far in the direction of focus on putting on a good appearance. It’s quite tricky to strike the right balance between directness and tact. The conversations that I had with LW posters after making my string of postings on SIAI convinced me that I had placed too little emphasis on tact in the context under discussion. But certainly there are situations where taking a direct approach is warranted.
The main message that I hope people take away from my top level posting is that it’s important to provide context to conversation partners who have a worldview different from one’s own. Often such context is of independent interest so the opportunity cost of providing background and context is low.
I have upvoted this as a good analysis of propaganda techniques (no offence intended). What you write seems generally true, however I am a little bit afraid that learning too much of the communication skills can actually hurt a discussion, since the content is diluted in signalling noise. It isn’t a good thing when a criticism induces offended feelings in most of the criticised, on the other hand, it isn’t a good thing either when the main message is nearly lost between disclaimers, or when it’s never said because it’s too hard to avoid all possible mistakes in formulation, context and precision. To strive for perfection is a noble thing to do, but, as Churchill said, it can paralyse you.
I agree it’s possible to err too far in the direction of focus on putting on a good appearance. It’s quite tricky to strike the right balance between directness and tact. The conversations that I had with LW posters after making my string of postings on SIAI convinced me that I had placed too little emphasis on tact in the context under discussion. But certainly there are situations where taking a direct approach is warranted.
The main message that I hope people take away from my top level posting is that it’s important to provide context to conversation partners who have a worldview different from one’s own. Often such context is of independent interest so the opportunity cost of providing background and context is low.