I didn’t know “street epistemology” was a thing, but over the years I’ve run into a few people who thought asking incisive questions was a good way to make conversation with me. I usually start ignoring them after the second or third question, because to me that’s just not what conversation is about! If someone consistently fails to tell me anything new or surprising (even when directly prompted), what’s the point of talking? Thankfully, LW has many people who, upon joining a conversation, openly state their beliefs and give interesting arguments for them instead of trying to snipe others. Scott is maybe the brightest example, I try to imitate him whenever I can.
I love it when someone asks me a question that gets me to teach myself something. This happens on Facebook once in a while, often by accident. If someone seriously tries to help me find the basis of or implications of or flaws in my thinking, I appreciate it. This may be a personal problem. I love answering certain questions, even when they don’t teach me anything. I am not always good at looking at things from a different perspective. Sometimes even a really ignorant question can spark off a new realization for me.
I’ve met a university professor who asked me lots of questions, but avoided giving me her own opinions. I felt left in the dark and suspicious of her intentions. My impression was that she used her belief that heated arguments don’t lead anywhere as an excuse to shield herself from judgment.
That said, I, like her, but unlike the OP, think heated arguments are indeed counterproductive. Ideally, each person should expose both what they know and what they don’t know and aim to build on each other’s ideas. I find discussions on LW to be good examples of what I mean. Of course, one needs to balance that ideal with status preservation, especially at work.
I didn’t know “street epistemology” was a thing, but over the years I’ve run into a few people who thought asking incisive questions was a good way to make conversation with me. I usually start ignoring them after the second or third question, because to me that’s just not what conversation is about! If someone consistently fails to tell me anything new or surprising (even when directly prompted), what’s the point of talking? Thankfully, LW has many people who, upon joining a conversation, openly state their beliefs and give interesting arguments for them instead of trying to snipe others. Scott is maybe the brightest example, I try to imitate him whenever I can.
I love it when someone asks me a question that gets me to teach myself something. This happens on Facebook once in a while, often by accident. If someone seriously tries to help me find the basis of or implications of or flaws in my thinking, I appreciate it. This may be a personal problem. I love answering certain questions, even when they don’t teach me anything. I am not always good at looking at things from a different perspective. Sometimes even a really ignorant question can spark off a new realization for me.
I’ve met a university professor who asked me lots of questions, but avoided giving me her own opinions. I felt left in the dark and suspicious of her intentions. My impression was that she used her belief that heated arguments don’t lead anywhere as an excuse to shield herself from judgment.
That said, I, like her, but unlike the OP, think heated arguments are indeed counterproductive. Ideally, each person should expose both what they know and what they don’t know and aim to build on each other’s ideas. I find discussions on LW to be good examples of what I mean. Of course, one needs to balance that ideal with status preservation, especially at work.