Swimmer963 comments on 6 Tips for Productive Arguments - Less Wrong

30 Post author: John_Maxwell_IV 18 March 2012 09:02PM

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Comment author: TheOtherDave 19 March 2012 08:16:16PM 4 points [-]

"Not having a side" doesn't have to mean being unable to argue a side, it can instead mean being able to argue several different sides. If I can do that, then if someone insists that I argue a position I can pick one and argue it, even knowing perfectly well that I could just as readily argue a conflicting position.

In the real world, knowing that there are several different plausible positions is actually pretty useful. What I generally find professionally is that there's rarely "the right answer" so much as there are lots of wrong answers. If I can agree with someone to avoid the wrong answers, I'm usually pretty happy to accept their preferred right answer even if it isn't mine.

Comment author: Swimmer963 19 March 2012 09:22:59PM 0 points [-]

If I can do that, then if someone insists that I argue a position I can pick one and argue it, even knowing perfectly well that I could just as readily argue a conflicting position.

This is the part that I can't do. It's almost like I can't argue for stuff I don't believe because I feel like I'm lying. (I'm also terrible at actually lying.)

Comment author: Strange7 26 March 2012 12:51:31AM 0 points [-]

I figured out a long time ago that I don't like lying. As a result, I constructed some personal policies to minimize the amount of lying I would need to do. In that, we most likely are the same. However, I also practiced the skill enough that when a necessity arose I would be able to do it right the first time.