We have all been there. You are in a comment section or a group chat. Someone says something that isn’t just wrong—it’s fundamentally confused. Maybe they think an AI chatbot is a conscious person because it said "I'm sad." Maybe they think they understand war because they play Call of Duty. Maybe they think running … Continue reading Why You Can’t Win That Internet Argument (And Shouldn’t Try)
Tag: arguments
Filter Failure & Critical Ignoring
"As important as the ability to think critically continues to be, we argue that it is insufficient to borrow the tools developed for offline environments and apply them to the digital world. When the world comes to people filtered through digital devices, there is no longer a need to decide what information to seek. Instead, … Continue reading Filter Failure & Critical Ignoring
The Hardest Arguer
The person arguing the hardest typically has something else at stake other that being right. Whether it is their brittle male egos, love of authoritarianism or other kinds of fundamentalism, they are often arguing for a worldview. Being right often has little to do with it.
Energy Production, Cryptocurrencies & Hidden Agendas
How many times have you read something like this, “Bitcoin uses as much electricity as Malaysia or Sweden or Denmark or Chile….”. What a bore. Have you ever wondered, however, why the comparison is to countries? Why don’t they ever tell you what would seem to be a more natural comparison which is how much … Continue reading Energy Production, Cryptocurrencies & Hidden Agendas
Illiberalism, Cancel Culture, Free Speech, and The Internet
"Bad faith is the condition of the modern internet, and shitposting is its lingua franca. On—yes—both sides. Look: A professional Twitter troll is president. Trolling won. Perhaps it’s time to acknowledge that despite their centrality, online platforms aren’t suited to the earnest exchange of big ideas."—Lili Loofbourow, "Illiberalism Isn’t to Blame for the Death of … Continue reading Illiberalism, Cancel Culture, Free Speech, and The Internet
How to Read Big Books
"...it is a principal task of a successful modern university to teach people how to read [big, difficult, flawed, incredibly insightful, genius books]. Indeed, it might be said that one of the few key competencies we here at the university have to teach—our counterpart or the medieval triad of rhetoric, logic, grammar and then quadriad … Continue reading How to Read Big Books
The Art of Worldly Wisdom by Baltasar Gracián
"Tis better to have a dispute with honourable people than to have a victory over dishonourable ones. You cannot treat with the ruined, for they have no hostages for rectitude. With them there is no true friendship, and their agreements are not binding, however stringent they may appear, because they have no feeling of honour. … Continue reading The Art of Worldly Wisdom by Baltasar Gracián
Classy & Disagreeable
"The most obvious advantage of classifying the forms of disagreement is that it will help people to evaluate what they read. In particular, it will help them to see through intellectually dishonest arguments. An eloquent speaker or writer can give the impression of vanquishing an opponent merely by using forceful words. In fact that is … Continue reading Classy & Disagreeable
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