Re: Communication and Conversion, WAS:[Re: SOC/AG-BIO: AgBio Industry Beginning to Wake Up]

From: Lee Daniel Crocker (lee@piclab.com)
Date: Thu Jul 20 2000 - 20:51:18 MDT


> Does calling someone a luddite (whether it is true or not) increase or
> decrease the probability of converting them to a "better" mode of
> thought? I'd be interested in hearing everyone's take on this, not just
> Mike's.

Since when is converting your opponent to your point of view the
only (or even primary) purpose of an argument? On a public mailing
list like this I can think of many other goals: converting the
audience, clarifying the issues, learning about the opponent,
measuring response to ideas, making social connections, and probably
a few I haven't thought of.

--
Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lee/>
"All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past,
are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified
for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC



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