Tuesday, January 22, 2013

I Don't Want to Be Convinced of Anything Other Than the Fact You Know What You Are Talking About and Have a Valid Reason to Believe What You Say

For whatever it's worth--which is probably nothing-- I prefer inquiry over advocacy.  For this reason, I have a high bar when it comes to accepting advocacy.

My last post was inspired, in part, by the propensity of many bloggers to rely on sources they clearly have not vetted in order to add weight to their arguments.  The problem is, when you spend any time exploring the validity and reliability of those sources, you find little or nothing.  (Of course, most people don't dig into cited sources, so there's little danger in being exposed as a fraud.)

When I see that kind of behavior, I assume the blogger is either a fool or a liar.  In either event, that blogger's thoughts are not worth taking seriously.

A major reason I respect bloggers like Russ and Toby is that they are independent thinkers who are capable of creating opportunities for inquiry through well thought-out advocacy.  Whatever you think of their positions, the debates they advocate are well worth embracing.

Continuous learning is what makes us human.