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> I don't want rhetoric from this list, no matter how entertaining, whether I
> agree or disagree with the points made. I'm not on the list to win or to
> watch arguments. I'm on this list (a) to get useful information that relates
> to my job (b) to offer useful information, if I have it (c) to learn about
> technical communication generally, whether it relates to my current job or
> not. (And sometimes to vent about the irrational and inconsiderate behaviour
> of cow-orkers who are not technical writers... <g>)
Anytime people with different backgrounds, education levels, and ideas come
together to talk and share - there is bound to be disagreement and discussion.
You cannot control the personalities around you. They are who they are
regardless of your wishes. Eric establishes basic rules to keep us all
fundamentally civil. But you cannot expect people to mirror your attitudes.
The flip side of all that is that HOW we say things does have a lot to do with
what we say. "Entertaining rhetoric" can often communicate more effectively
than some stiff, academic report. There is a reason Al Gore and George Bush
use simple platitudes and entertaining quips. Those quips can get more across
than some long-winded, stiff lecture.
> I feel that discussions about technical communication are not improved by
> use of rhetorical tricks by any or all of the participants. Rhetoric is used
> to win an argument: the object of this list is not for one or other "side"
> to "win", but for all of us to learn more. It's a discussion, not a contest.
Here you are correct. It is not a contest. This is where I would say that many
people confuse disagreement with an attack. Just because somebody rebuffs your
ideas does not mean they hate you and want you dead and humiliated. Part of
the history of rhetoric is learned men and women using opposing viewpoints to
explore and analyze ideas. This is a basic tenant of the scientific method.
Publish your ideas and allow them to be challenged. If you are unwilling to
have your ideas challenged - don't put them in a public arena where others can
comment on them.
Rhetorical tricks are just part of exposing weakness in ideas. Those tricks
exist as a mechanism to test the legitimacy of an idea under stress. When you
can see the tricks and their power, you can begin to manipulate them to make
your ideas more forceful. There is nothing wrong with all of us learning how to
manipulate ideas more effectively.
Andrew Plato
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