I find that often when I have a discussion with someone who isn't familiar with A Human's Guide to Words or Hayakawa's Language in Thought and Action, the conversation often ends prematurely because I can't seem to tactfully point out when someone is arguing over semantics or confusing the map for the territory. How do you guys approach a discussion where your partner seems to be making these types of errors?
I tend to say things like "I think most of our disagreement is about definitions of words rather than the actual facts" and try to express the underlying issue more explicitly.
This thread is for asking any questions that might seem obvious, tangential, silly or what-have-you. Don't be shy, everyone has holes in their knowledge, though the fewer and the smaller we can make them, the better.
Please be respectful of other people's admitting ignorance and don't mock them for it, as they're doing a noble thing.
To any future monthly posters of SQ threads, please remember to add the "stupid_questions" tag.