Oct 7, 2010

Disagreeing without Being Disagreeable

   
Ken Keathley has good advice for when you are writing about those with whom you disagree. In sum he offers three good suggestions.

1. Describe your opponent’s position in such a way that he can recognize it.
2. Know your opponent’s position well enough that you could argue it for him.
3. Write as if your opponent and you were going to dinner together after you finish

I often find that advice like this is sadly neglected on discussion lists, blogs, and other forums like Facebook. This is also one reason that I don't often interact with discussions in these contexts. In any case, Ken's post is worth reading in full here.
   

2 comments:

Mark Hutchins said...

Thanks for sharing! Tim Challies posted a really good related article on his blog titled "Solomon on Social Media". You might want to check it out if you haven't already seen it.

Thanks again!

Charles Savelle said...

Thanks for the heads up. Let me check in to it.