It can be so annoying when someone just doesn’t listen. They don’t make any sense and refuse to hear your superior and clearly right point of view. They can seem like proper cunts.
We all love our own ideas. We are all slightly narcissistic and want to be told we are wonderful and talented. The only difference between the ego monsters that are 2-year-olds and adults, is that adults have an air of sophistication so we can use language to explain away the appearance of ego.
But as Mitchell & Webb comedically point out, sometimes we are the baddies.
Instead of it weakening your argument, indulging in the others side’s point of view can help you get a better understanding of your own position.
Aristotle is incorrectly attributed with the quote -“The sign of an educated mind is to be willing to entertain an idea without accepting it.”
This beautifully captures the idea that you need to have a level of intellectual agility to see the world from someone else’s point of view. The notion of seeing from their point of view doesn’t mean that you believe it, just that you are trying to understand and connect with them rather than win the argument.
This is similar to Steel Manning, which is the opposite of Straw Manning, which you might have heard before. Steel Manning is deliberated trying to help the other side by strengthening their argument. If you can beat their best argument, doesn’t that show how strong your argument is?
If you can help them create the best argument for their position and still yours makes more sense and is the stronger position, then you can feel really good you are on the right side.
There are very few ideas that are completely bad from either a philosophical or pragmatic level but rest assured, there are so very bad ideas out there.
Bill Burr approaches a very risky subject here. (note: you are not Bill Burr so don’t try this.
If you haven’t given the other side the benefit of the doubt or you deliberately acted intellectually disingenuous then, maybe, just maybe, you are the cunt.
Luke McMeeken-Ruscoe 