Weeknote 38, 2023

§1 Self-gullibility

If you believe yourself to be one of the few non-gullible people in a world of the credulous, are you not revealing your own gullibility? To fool yourself is still to be fooled, is it not?

§2 Communication takes work

One obstacle to meaningful online debate: Some people seem unaware that others respond to their words rather than their thoughts. Those words (and whatever can be inferred from them) are all that an online interlocutor can see. Reacting to responses from interlocutors with anger or contempt towards those who did not read their minds correctly ends the debate before it had even begun.

§3 Quotation

“I’m always gratified to look back on a thread on a topic outside my knowledge and passion and see that I didn’t comment on it. It’s like finding a picture of yourself sober from your 20’s.”–Anonymous