Because we occasionally might want to convince them of things, and we can't do that without understanding what they want to see in an argument.
So, um, if you really let Jesus into your heart and accept Him as your personal savior you will see that He wants you to donate 50% of your salary to GiveWell's top charities..?
it behooves us to get better at modeling people that don't share our epistemology or our (at least, my) contempt for politics.
True, but you don't do that by mimicking their rhetoric.
True, but you don't do that by mimicking their rhetoric.
The point isn't to blindly mimic their rhetoric, it's to talk their language: not just the soundbites, but the motivations under them. To use your example, talking about letting Jesus into your heart isn't going to convince anyone to donate a large chunk of their salary to GiveWell's top charities. There's a Christian argument for charity already, though, and talking effective altruism in those terms might well convince someone that accepts it to donate to real charity rather than some godawful s...
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.
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