Openness to Unpopular Ideas

From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Sat Aug 04 2001 - 13:55:42 MDT


Let the homophobes, the socialists, the racists, the religious, the
luddites, the reactionaries, the anarchists, the statists, and
all the others whose opinions are likely to be unpopular here speak
up. We'll take them all on!

We will listen very carefully and honestly to everything they have
to say. We will scrutinize their arguments, but then pull no punches
in our forthright disagreement, criticism, and negative rejection of
their ideas (if, in fact, it comes to that). But we'll not indulge
in one-line dismissals of those views, nor speak haughtily from a
position of supposedly greater knowledge, but rather as ruthlessly
as is possible evaluate their entire arguments, winnowing the true
from the false, heralding the former, and denouncing the latter.

And at all times, of course, we'll never resort to personal attacks,
engage in name calling, or employ obfuscating debating tactics, but
rather try to be as polite and respectful as is reasonable.

Well, at least a few people here hold these as goals. Uh, anybody
besides me? I'm not hearing much endorsement of these ideals, and
I'm getting a little worried.

Lee Corbin



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