Re: Why result to insults instead of reasoned arguements? Was: The wisdom of the object mentors

Laurent Bossavit wrote:
>
> The effectiveness of the argument as a vehicle for convincing others,
> however, is very much dependent on whether it conforms to the norms of
> socially acceptable discourse.
>
> When you insult people, you actively discourage them from listening to
> you. Worse, you discourage anyone else who's listening in - and who may
> have started out inclined to listen to you.

These are interesting hypotheses. Are they true, I wonder? How could we find out if they are true or not?

Marshall Received on Sat Jun 03 2006 - 16:58:06 CDT