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Aristotle said that the mark of an educated man was the ability to entertain a thought without accepting it.
The scholastic tradition is based on just that. Defending and attacking both sides of an argument.
People are also in different places as they work through their convictions. Just trying an idea or belief on. Struggling with it. Resolving doubts.
What I see on line is a tendency to presume that everyone who presents an idea, asks a question, poses a theory-- is totally 100% committed and certain in their beliefs. And people go after them with corresponding vigor.
I get that. Trolls.
But at the same time it really makes internet dialog a drag sometimes.
The scholastic tradition is based on just that. Defending and attacking both sides of an argument.
People are also in different places as they work through their convictions. Just trying an idea or belief on. Struggling with it. Resolving doubts.
What I see on line is a tendency to presume that everyone who presents an idea, asks a question, poses a theory-- is totally 100% committed and certain in their beliefs. And people go after them with corresponding vigor.
I get that. Trolls.
But at the same time it really makes internet dialog a drag sometimes.