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drcuriosityThis phrase came up again in conversation with a particular friend of mine, so I took the time to try to clarify an issue I see with this kind of "play" in the discourse of the Internet Shouting Factories.
The original principle of the historical role of Devil's Advocate was that extraordinary claims require extraordinary scrutiny, and thus must pass an ordeal of extraordinary challenge to be accepted. Sometimes, that is not the best frame for a conversation to have.
Not every discussion needs to be combative, nor treated as though it's all within the frame of some kind of reductionist ideological football match, where everyone's wearing team colours and pushing each other around for yardage.
As I get older, I'm increasingly not interested in pouring my energy into fighting for the sake of fighting and scoring points. It's nice for in-group cohesion and social performance of values and all, but it doesn't tend to do much to convince anyone of anything.
We can try to build things, too - but that requires more care and more collaborative action, rather than just hammering away at anything that looks nail-like and declaring a victory when it lowers its head.
The original principle of the historical role of Devil's Advocate was that extraordinary claims require extraordinary scrutiny, and thus must pass an ordeal of extraordinary challenge to be accepted. Sometimes, that is not the best frame for a conversation to have.
Not every discussion needs to be combative, nor treated as though it's all within the frame of some kind of reductionist ideological football match, where everyone's wearing team colours and pushing each other around for yardage.
As I get older, I'm increasingly not interested in pouring my energy into fighting for the sake of fighting and scoring points. It's nice for in-group cohesion and social performance of values and all, but it doesn't tend to do much to convince anyone of anything.
We can try to build things, too - but that requires more care and more collaborative action, rather than just hammering away at anything that looks nail-like and declaring a victory when it lowers its head.
