Register | Sign In


Understanding through Discussion


EvC Forum active members: 65 (9162 total)
7 online now:
Newest Member: popoi
Post Volume: Total: 915,816 Year: 3,073/9,624 Month: 918/1,588 Week: 101/223 Day: 12/17 Hour: 1/0


Thread  Details

Email This Thread
Newer Topic | Older Topic
  
Author Topic:   Honest Debate: how do you read?
Taz
Member (Idle past 3291 days)
Posts: 5069
From: Zerus
Joined: 07-18-2006


Message 17 of 49 (541647)
01-04-2010 10:26 PM
Reply to: Message 16 by RAZD
01-04-2010 8:26 PM


RAZD writes:
Are just a logical fallacy...
I wonder...
Suppose we have the following scenario. I've been in and out of the prison system all my life. The last time I went in was for child molestation. Through my psych exam, the shrink determined that I was attracted to young boys.
Nowadays, I'm out and about and is proposing to marry your sister. She happens to have a young boy and she has no idea about my past history. From the beginning, you've had a bad feeling about me. You tell your sister about me. You even point out to your sister that I keep making her cry and she keeps saying "I need to learn to love him more..."
When all else fails, you decide to tell your sister about my criminal past history.
But WAIT! Ad Hominem... I might argue with you that my past has nothing to do with wanting to marry your sister.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 16 by RAZD, posted 01-04-2010 8:26 PM RAZD has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 19 by RAZD, posted 01-05-2010 7:34 AM Taz has replied

  
Taz
Member (Idle past 3291 days)
Posts: 5069
From: Zerus
Joined: 07-18-2006


Message 24 of 49 (541706)
01-05-2010 5:58 PM
Reply to: Message 19 by RAZD
01-05-2010 7:34 AM


RAZD writes:
So do you read for comprehension or to pick out tid-bits to refute?
Well, neither. It wasn't meant as a refutation. It was just a random thought. I apologize for the hard feeling.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 19 by RAZD, posted 01-05-2010 7:34 AM RAZD has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 25 by RAZD, posted 01-05-2010 7:34 PM Taz has replied

  
Taz
Member (Idle past 3291 days)
Posts: 5069
From: Zerus
Joined: 07-18-2006


Message 26 of 49 (541719)
01-05-2010 8:16 PM
Reply to: Message 25 by RAZD
01-05-2010 7:34 PM


Re: think across orthogonally?
RAZD writes:
Do you try to fully understand their position and then see if it needs tweaking?
Or do you whiz through it looking for obvious errors and then harp on those while ignoring the rest of the post?
Most of the time, neither. I'm usually exhausted when I get home from work. I really don't have the time to read carefully through more than a couple threads. Which is why I tend to limit my participation to a couple threads at a time.
And even then, when I read a post, I whiz over it and then move on to the next post... unless something catches my eyes. Now, let's admit it, there are so many members with so much free time here that by the time anything so wacked up needs a rebuttal, by the time I get to it a dozen people have already responded to it. And have I mentioned I've been living on 5 hours of sleep per day?
What I usually do is a combination of whizzing through a post and if something jumps out at me I'll go back and reread the whole thing again in more detail.
And I agree. Mod seems to be very careful, articulate, patient, and {insert ideal characteristic here}.
Edit.
PS - I just caught myself falling asleep as i waited for this post to submit.
Edited by Taz, : No reason given.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 25 by RAZD, posted 01-05-2010 7:34 PM RAZD has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 28 by RAZD, posted 01-05-2010 8:27 PM Taz has not replied

  
Taz
Member (Idle past 3291 days)
Posts: 5069
From: Zerus
Joined: 07-18-2006


Message 39 of 49 (542073)
01-07-2010 2:09 PM
Reply to: Message 35 by RAZD
01-06-2010 7:10 PM


Re: on reading to refute - does this lead to confirmation bias?
RAZD writes:
This is what worries me about focusing on the refutation rather than the understanding, that you can fall prey to confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance and, perhaps, miss some nuanced point that you may not have agreed with originally.
But I'm not sure confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance can be avoided. One can never begin a research completely neutral on the subject. We all have past experience. And we all have our own common sense. Combined the two, we will always have a little bit of confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance.
Case in point. Yesterday, I was hit with the news that exposure to cell phone radiation could be beneficial instead of harmful. Even the researchers themselves admitted that when they first began this research they all believed that the result will confirm what the rest of us have been suspecting for years now, that cell phone EM radiation is harmful if received in regular doses. This research blew this belief out of the water.
Of course, more research will have to be conducted before this form of treatment for Alzheimer's could become a possibility. But now that we have a direction to go, I'm sure everyone is hopeful.
My point is even researchers begin their research with a kind of confirmation bias. The best any of us could do to avoid allowing CB and CD to take control of our lives is be aware that these things exist and always double check ourselves when presented with new facts.

Place yourself on the map at http://www.frappr.com/evc
The thread about this map can be found here.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 35 by RAZD, posted 01-06-2010 7:10 PM RAZD has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 49 by RAZD, posted 01-24-2010 9:25 PM Taz has not replied

  
Newer Topic | Older Topic
Jump to:


Copyright 2001-2023 by EvC Forum, All Rights Reserved

™ Version 4.2
Innovative software from Qwixotic © 2024