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

From: Phlip <phlipcpp_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 03 Jun 2006 22:00:45 GMT
Message-ID: <hEngg.107574$dW3.85974@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com>

Marshall wrote:

> 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?

Uh, all of USENET would appear to be living proof here...

-- 
  Phlip
  http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?ZeekLand <-- NOT a blog!!!

Received on Sat Jun 03 2006 - 17:00:45 CDT