Re: "rational"

Posted by Steve Smith on Jan 07, 2014; 11:54pm
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/11-American-Nations-tp7584250p7584668.html

Nick with wonderfully trollish eyebrows!

I am admittedly being trollish here, and as you all know who know me, I am no stranger to confused thought, but ....

confused thought, what?

 

He who criticizeth the reasoning of another without spelling out the reasoning thus criticized engageth in poor reasoning. 

He who useth CAPs or emboldened or boosted text doth engage in conflating emphasis with persuasiveness <grin>

I say this not (just) to be a troll, but because I honestly feel we in this country have a terrible problem of communication.  WE have lost any sense of why it is important to try to come of a shared view of our inevitably common future.  And if people in FRIAM cannot talk to one another in a reasonable way, how are the people in washington ever to do so. 

I do believe that we FriAMites *do* talk in a mostly reasonable, albeit oftentimes, argumentative  fashion.  I believe that *many* people in Washington talk reasonably with eachother much of the time.   But I *don't* think the system of legislation (or adjudication or execution) necessarily support reasonableness.  It definitely is being "gamed" a great deal. 

 

Now I know there are some right wingers on the FRIAM list.  I talk to them every week.  And I wager that they are just rolling their eyes and saying, “Wow!  Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.”

and the pots and the kettles were all covered in soot... 

And while I agree with your conclusions, mostly, I cannot find any tools to defend this conversation against that patently just accusation.

 

In short, “Who’s that crossing my bridge!”

Me... Carl has talked me into attending FriAM en verite!

I prefer Glen's regular exhortation:  "Get off my lawn!"


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