Sunday, February 24, 2008

Disagreement Checklist

If you seem to disagree with someone about a factual statement, it's important to consider all four possible explanations:

1. The other person's conscious beliefs are incorrect.

2. Your conscious beliefs are incorrect.

3. The other person is deliberately deceiving you about his conscious beliefs.

4. You have the same conscious beliefs, but your understanding of what the other person is trying to say is incorrect, and you perceive a factual disagreement where none exists.

Obviously more than one of these can apply to a given situation.

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