mindspillage comments on Open Thread, July 1-15, 2013 - Less Wrong

4 Post author: Vaniver 01 July 2013 05:10PM

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Comment author: gwillen 02 July 2013 04:09:25AM 4 points [-]

I frequently use "Hmm, it's not entirely clear to me that [X]...", which seems very directly analogous to yours.

Comment author: mindspillage 04 July 2013 04:09:08AM 5 points [-]

I like this, and also "I don't quite understand why [X]", which puts them in the pleasant position of explaining to me from a position of superiority--or sometimes realizing that they can't.

Comment author: Viliam_Bur 06 July 2013 10:55:58AM 1 point [-]

I guess this only works on people who feel friendly. Making them also feel superior... now they owe you a decent explanation.

A hostile person could find other way to feel superior, without explanation. For example, they could say: "Just use google to educate yourself, dummy!"