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There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to proper investigation. - Herbert Spencer
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Acknowledge emotions brought to or arising from controversy, else you will/may vent feelings but not state reasons.
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Make your own assumptions explicit. - Declare your prejudices, your pre-judgements. Good controversy should not be an argument about assumptions.
An attempt at impartiality is a good antidote for the blindness that is almost inevitable in partisanship.
If you have not read a [argument] sympathetically, your disagreement with it is probably more contentious than civil.
Limit yourself to these four criticisms: I understand but I disagree because...
- You are uninformed
- You are misinformed
- You are illogical, your reasoning is not cogent
- Your analysis is incomplete.1
Understanding how pride works in my life I have tried to always allow others the space to believe differently. I post this with reverent fear that I may be wrong.
I rest in the knowledge that G-d, working in the life I have lived, has brought me to this blessed place where I am today - despite my best efforts. I find comfort also in the promise of Ephesians 3:15 -
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All of us who are mature should take such a view of things . And if on some point you think differently, that too G-d will make clear to you.
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Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
Footnotes:
- Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren, How to Read a Book, (Touchstone - Simon & Schuster Inc. 1972) pp 154 - 167