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Old 2013-01-13, 22:45   Link #62
Sol Falling
Senior Member
 
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Age: 35
Actually, in terms of making an opinion (your opinion) accepted, I would say that even more important than having "facts" is being respected by other people, i.e. being able to make other people want to listen to your opinion. Cold hard facts might reflect reality, but it can't actually be said that it is human nature to desire reality above everything else. The most important thing is whether people actually want to hear what you're saying, and in that respect your message can be helped tremendously by proper etiquette or tone. After all, no one will want to respect you, if you clearly first do not respect them.

That is the nature of discussion/communication, i.e. what goes on in this forum, which must be clearly distinguished from logical argument/debate. Argument/debate might sometimes be necessary to hash out/settle irreconcilable differences, but the primary purpose of discussion is simply to communicate with other people.

Which gets to the heart of what this thread topic is talking about. A whole lot of (argumentative) people, on this forum and others, act like "truth" is their only concern. To ask them to try to show some respect for other people isn't a criticism, it's a genuinely well-intended suggestion to help them communicate more effectively. I'll refrain from generalizing it completely as a symptom of age, but basically it is ridiculously naive to think that you can get through all of life relying solely on "truth" or "objectivity". The sooner that people realize that you really do have to make room to account for human weakness (both in yourself, and in others) and empathy, the better.
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