dalec@socrates.berkeley.edu wrote:
>
> On Mon, 29 Dec 1997, Lee Daniel Crocker wrote:
> >
> > I don't see politeness as optimism at all; I see it as capitulation
> > to irrational standards. Learning to use the dribble glass, as it
> > has been put so eloquently. And the expectation of politeness gets
> > in the way of plain no-bullshit communication.
>
> Politeness can be optimistic, as when you assume that a person who is
> behaving unreasonably (or even simply disagreeing with you), will behave
> more reasonably when treated with patience and dignity. Politeness can be
> pessimistic, as when you assume an irritating situation might devolve into
> violence without it. Politeness is no more an irrational capitulation
> than "obeying" gravity is. Unless you subscribe to the fantastic Randian
> assumption that there are no irrational conflicts among people, you will
> have to admit the world is peopled with a number of beings at cross
> purposes. There are indefinitely many versions out there of just what
> constitutes "plain" "no-bullshit" communication, many of which will
> register to others as anything from tedious to outright provocations to
> violence. Civility is a spontaneous order hacked to minimize the
> humiliations and discomforts provoked by this plurality of beings and
> projects. I would expect Extropians to champion good manners if only
> because in the absence of them people tend to make recourse instead to
> litigators and legislators.
> _______________________________________________________________________________
>
> Dale Carrico | dalec@socrates.berkeley.edu
> University of California at Berkeley, Department of Rhetoric
> _______________________________________________________________________________
>
> If you want to tell people the truth be sure to make them laugh.
> Otherwise, they will kill you. -- George Bernard Shaw
> _______________________________________________________________________________
> State is the name of the coldest of all cold monsters. -- Nietzsche
--
The future has arrived; it's just not evenly distributed.
-William Gibson
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