tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post8839272804400060606..comments2024-03-27T03:19:11.216-04:00Comments on Assistant Village Idiot: Fraidy CatsAssistant Village Idiothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-80539322446753068642014-01-21T06:38:52.238-05:002014-01-21T06:38:52.238-05:00Hmph.
People (some people) deploy "afraid&qu...Hmph.<br /><br />People (some people) deploy "afraid" because it tends to cause the target to immediately huddle into a defensive crouch: it's an accusation that not only are you acting emotionally, but that you're irrational, letting your emotion overcome your reason. It's an assertion of moral superiority: you are cowardly and moved by a base emotion, which your interlocutor is presumably above.<br /><br />So it will predictably cause you to leave the argument and start trying to prove that you're a good person, and show that you're not afraid, and try to climb back up to rhetorical equality with your interlocutor and out of the primitive-emotions mud he's shoved you into. Meanwhile feeling vaguely guilty, which doesn't improve anyone's arguments.<br /><br />In other words, the tactic is used because it works. It's dirty pool, but it does work. Therefore, the way to stop it is to react in a way that makes it not work.<br /><br />"Hmm, how interesting that you say so. [return to point of contention]"<br /><br />"Afraid of change? Why, no, I don't think so; I advocate and look forward to much more fundamental changes. Now, [return to point of contention]"<br /><br />Etc. <br /><br />Harder to know how to handle it when it's just part of the rhetorical smog and not directed at you specifically. But realizing and pointing out that it is, in fact, a tactic and not a real observation about anyone can help defuse it.jaedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03328666344764784829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-20915755681970878932014-01-19T22:31:23.665-05:002014-01-19T22:31:23.665-05:00Hmmmm...
Just like those of us who advocate for h...Hmmmm...<br /><br />Just like those of us who advocate for hymnals, pews, and dressing decently in church are just afraid of change. <br /><br />Yup, I say, that's what I'm afraid of. Shaking in my shiny shoes, I am. Dubbahdeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00075702513873912334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-91930073069689278432014-01-18T20:09:45.546-05:002014-01-18T20:09:45.546-05:00I am comfortable with both as I have spent quite a...I am comfortable with both as I have spent quite a bit of time in the UK. <br /><br />It sometimes throws off my colleagues after I've gotten off the phone with customers or associates in the UK as I tend to switch to British syntax when speaking with them and it takes a minute or two afterwards to switch back to American syntax.DCEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07473492838008371044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-25235820177649577922014-01-18T12:13:56.980-05:002014-01-18T12:13:56.980-05:00I started moving to the British spellings of -ise ...I started moving to the British spellings of -ise instead of -ize a bout ten years ago, for no reason I can think of. It probably did have pretension at its rot, so you are entitled to be critical.<br /><br />And you did it cleverly. Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-73217466946889883922014-01-18T08:38:45.472-05:002014-01-18T08:38:45.472-05:00Are you sure it isn't spelled patronizing? At ...Are you sure it isn't spelled <i>patronizing</i>? At least I believe that's the spelling in the American English lexicon. It is the proper spelling proper in the British English lexicon.<br /><br />Yes, I know I'm nit-picking, but I am in a bit of a nit-picking mood seeing as I had a run in with one of the more vocal and vehemently Leftist residents of my town this morning. This guy would have fit in quite nicely during the Bolshevik Revolution, that impression having come from my more-than-a-few interactions with him both in person and in the Letters section of our local paper. So he got me a bit wound up this morning. (No, I didn't interact with him other than a polite "Good morning" as I had other more important things to do than to 'debate' with that closed-minded SOB.)DCEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07473492838008371044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-86463778001853224612014-01-14T19:10:18.099-05:002014-01-14T19:10:18.099-05:00Pity is a refreshing change from the usual "C...Pity is a refreshing change from the usual "Convervatives are evil!" and "Liberals are stupid!" themes.jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01792036361407527304noreply@blogger.com