How to Disagree

A good post on 'How to Disagree' from Paul Graham. Given the recent meme about response etiquette, it seems to have come at an opportune time. I'm also pleased to note that he reinforces my argument about expertise in his section on Ad Hominems:

Saying that an author lacks the authority to write about a topic is a variant of ad hominem—and a particularly useless sort, because good ideas often come from outsiders. The question is whether the author is correct or not. If his lack of authority caused him to make mistakes, point those out. And if it didn't, it's not a problem.

Shameless plugging aside, the piece is worth the read. It has advice that I'll try to keep in mind as I argue with Sean on the List, in my del.icio.us tags, and in response posts I make here. His heirarchy of disagreement also highlights the reason why I don't tend to comment on posts, no matter how much I might disagree with them: it's hard.

The most convincing form of disagreement is refutation. It's also the rarest, because it's the most work. Indeed, the disagreement hierarchy forms a kind of pyramid, in the sense that the higher you go the fewer instances you find.
To refute someone you probably have to quote them. You have to find a "smoking gun," a passage in whatever you disagree with that you feel is mistaken, and then explain why it's mistaken. If you can't find an actual quote to disagree with, you may be arguing with a straw man.

I like actually responding to the merits of a piece, usually at some length, which take quite a bit of preparation. As a result, more often than not, I break a cardinal rule of blogging: just post already! Of course, that's why I'm also excited about this piece.

The Gods Must Be Smiling

Or the muses at least.

Two articles, one on generational concepts of leadership, one buying locally, were published in the WaPo just as I'm starting to think about writing articles on those subjects. I'm not sure exactly how 'Many Potential Leaders of Tomorrow Reject the Role' will be used - might get wrapped into another post I'm writing, or might end up inspiring another, but 'In Trial Run, Chipotle Heads to the Farm' will become a point in a piece about our cultural food amnesia (or something like that).

Minerva Deadline EXTENDED!

Breaking news:

Thesil has extended the deadline for Minerva entries to April 15th, which means that I might actually be able to finish my piece in time. We'll see.

And MANY THANKS! to Val Schrock for making the button for us! (visible on all of the WFI's pages)

Technical Difficulties

One of the problems I often face with blogging (well, more often with blogging, but this is a general writing issue) is that I will read something and be incredibly inspired and so think that I am ready to write, only to realize that the idea hasn't yet gelled and the words won't come.

This is different from writer's block (when I know exactly what I want to say and the words still won't come) but it is similar enough that if I'm tired or stressed, I'll confuse the two and go into a panic (I have writer's block, I'm worthless!).

In reality, I just have to start writing down everything I think is important and then constantly edit it. Sometimes, the process more resembles normal editing; perhaps a vigourous winter pruning before the spring blooms, but nothing major. At other times, it's more like hacking my way through a bramble patch: lots of hard work, no guarantee of satisfaction, and everything ends up a bloody, sticky mess.

I feel like I'm doing the latter with a couple of ideas I have for the EI. I wrote a first draft introduction to this blog in February, and now 3 weeks later, I'm still nowhere close to shaping it properly. The same is true for several other planned entries.

Luckily, I've at least finally realized that it's not writer's block, and so have stopped fighting and turned to other projects instead. As a result, I've now written several entries for the EI, We Are Publius, Blogworthy, and The List.

So I'm working on it. Blogging, as much as I enjoy it, is not always the best way for me to approach an idea, although it is so convenient for the presentation afterwards. This is a tension I'll probably always feel.

But, live, and learn, and write.

Minerva Deadline

As a heads-up for aspiring authors of global governance policy, the deadline for Minerva vol. 32 is March 15.

To submit, please contact the editor:

thesil [at] midcoast.com
or

Minerva
PO Box 397
Waldoboro, ME 04572

Thesil is a fantastic person and she puts out a really top quality publication. If you can't submit, but still want to read the journal, either contact Thesil at the above address or read it online in PDF form.