I was arguing the other day with someone online, and I said to him ” I think you’re trying to throw me off your scent here… You are cornered, and trying to confuse the issue by claiming I’m arguing for this idea, and you’ve been arguing against it. ”
The truth is, that I had not cornered him. The reason I couldn’t corner him was in order to corner someone in a rational debate, they have to allow themselves to become cornered… That is, they have to explain themselves so well, what their thoughts and ideas actually are that they are “nailed down”.
If their ideas are valid, from a scientific perspective, then this position of being cornered and nailed down, is actually the position of ultimate strength. It is exactly the opposite of where you would want to be in a physical fight.
What is often done, in an argument with a rationalist, who is trying to be cornered and nailed down, so that he can argue from his position of greatest strength, is that the attacker, knowing that he cannot actually attack the argument being defended, must create a strawman argument.
While this does nothing to the beliefs of the person defending the argument, it does confuse other participants or bystanders in the argument, and may succeed in impugning the integrity of a person defending a true idea… e.g., put him in an illusory box that gives others an excuse not to listen to him.
So, as a rule, one can be more successful in seeking truth, by looking for the participant in the debate who is defending and explaining their own ideas, with an honest desire to be cornered and nailed down. They will not feint, or dodge, but will stand where they are, defending their ground, until such time as they are exposed to a better idea.
I was arguing the other day with someone online, and I said to him ” I think you’re trying to throw me off your scent here… You are cornered, and trying to confuse the issue by claiming I’m arguing for this idea, and you’ve been arguing against it. ”
The truth is, that I had not cornered him. The reason I couldn’t corner him was in order to corner someone in a rational debate, they have to allow themselves to become cornered… That is, they have to explain themselves so well, what their thoughts and ideas actually are that they are “nailed down”.
If their ideas are valid, from a scientific perspective, then this position of being cornered and nailed down, is actually the position of ultimate strength. It is exactly the opposite of where you would want to be in a physical fight.
What is often done, in an argument with a rationalist, who is trying to be cornered and nailed down, so that he can argue from his position of greatest strength, is that the attacker, knowing that he cannot actually attack the argument being defended, must create a strawman argument.
While this does nothing to the beliefs of the person defending the argument, it does confuse other participants or bystanders in the argument, and may succeed in impugning the integrity of a person defending a true idea… e.g., put him in an illusory box that gives others an excuse not to listen to him.
So, as a rule, one can be more successful in seeking truth, by looking for the participant in the debate who is defending and explaining their own ideas, with an honest desire to be cornered and nailed down. They will not feint, or dodge, but will stand where they are, defending their ground, until such time as they are exposed to a better idea.