Megan McArdle has posted her semi-annual essay explaining that, if you want to persuade people with your arguments, you should probably refrain from calling them names and starting from the premise that they are evil, stupid, or both.
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Megan McArdle has posted her semi-annual essay explaining that, if you want to persuade people with your arguments, you should probably refrain from calling them names and starting from the premise that they are evil, stupid, or both. I’ve written a handful of those myself, at least once or twice building from one of Megan’s.
I predict, alas, that this one will have a similar impact on the debate.
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There are many intentions behind post including expressing one’s feelings, receiving confirmation on one’s thought, to persuade or to enlighten. I will often argue as much against the process that someone uses to come up with a conclusion than their conclusion itself.
That said I believe the intent of many in an argument is to persuade but they end up personalizing it so much that they end doing more harm then good. People tend to get more entrench when others insult them.
