Tuesday 17 June 2014

Understanding vs agreeing

The very idea of rational debate hinges on the notion that you can understand someone without agreeing with them. If the act of understanding someone automatically conferred agreement, then every informal debate would be over as soon as one person decided to examine another person's claims.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Conversely, you need to understand your opponent's points in order to argue them.
PPS - Otherwise we're just shouting at each other.

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