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RE: Meta-Topic On Discussions (delete as appropriate)
Subject:RE: Meta-Topic On Discussions (delete as appropriate) From:Tom Murrell <trmurrell -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 28 Feb 2003 11:41:20 -0800 (PST)
--- eric -dot- dunn -at- ca -dot- transport -dot- bombardier -dot- com wrote:
>
> There lies the challenge in really expanding your horizons. Separating what you
> know from what you believe, knowing when to admit believing something, and
> realising/accepting when it's time to change your mind.
I agree. From what I see, though, it is the rare person who, having uttered a
statement in support of X, will later come back and say, "I was mistaken."
This is not a dig at the list or at the recent threads about subject matter
expertise and its relative importance to the writer. I see it in all sorts of
discourse. I see it in myself. When I know something to be true or right or proper,
all the angels in the firmament cannot sway me from my belief. That's not to say
that I haven't changed my mind, but as someone else said, it is more often to be
from experience than dialog. This is perhaps because I am hard-headed and do not
reason well without experience.
But I'm not alone and do not blame myself, much. <g> I watch the list. Someone will
ask, "Which is better, X or Y?" Then, as they say at the racetrack, "And they're
off!" The arguments for X and Y are passionate, witty, rancorous, inventive,
repetitious, tedious, tendentious, and even obstreperous. At the end, if I were to
judge solely from a thread on this list, I would not know whether X or Y was better,
only that each has its adherents.
However, I'm glad to see that others do learn from these discussions and that some
minds are, if not changed, then informed by them. Perhaps that is enough.
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