Xiggi's New Glossary of Terms for the 2005-2006 Caf

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Acceptance
Nice, warm, cooperative way of evaluating ideas, much better than argument.</p>

<p>Argument
Unpleasant, testosterone-driven method of supporting one’s assertions, to be
avoided in favor of acceptance.</p>

<p>Assertion

  1. Essential technique, replacing the need for argument and evidence.
  2. To be greeted with acceptance, rather than argument.</p>

<p>Assumption
Something to be examined when it is our opponent’s and taken for granted
when it is our own.</p>

<p>Bashing
Criticising something that I approve of.</p>

<p>Bigot
Someone who believes something I don’t believe. See fanatic.</p>

<p>Comfortable
A word to use instead of ‘agree with’, ‘accept’, ‘understand’. ‘Doctors have
become more comfortable with alternative medicine’. This is useful in subtly
training us to replace out of date ways of assessing truth-claims such as
logic and evidence with the idea of a nice sofa.</p>

<p>Defensive
Adjective for someone who insists on disagreeing with me, and goes on
disagreeing even after I’ve said how right I am.</p>

<p>Demonising
Sharply criticising something that I approve of.</p>

<p>Elitist
Someone who knows more than I do.</p>

<p>Evidence

  1. Something that can be tailored to the requirements of my arguments.
  2. A tiresome thing that may conflict with something that I believe.</p>

<p>Fanatic
Someone who strongly believes something I don’t believe.</p>

<p>Ideology
Ideas we don’t agree with. Probably exploitative.</p>

<p>Intolerance
Subjecting my assertions or beliefs to criticism.</p>

<p>Nitpicking
What to accuse people of when they say you have your facts wrong.</p>

<p>Obfuscation
Useful move when talking to people who know more than you do.</p>

<p>Opinion
Everything. Often confused, by prepostmodern people, with entities like
truth, reality, the world. “That’s just your opinion,” is the approved
rebuke in such cases.</p>

<p>Perspective
Everybody has one, therefore nothing that anyone says is true. Or false.
Except of course what I just said - that is true, but it is the only thing
that is true. Or is there maybe one other thing…no, no, that’s the only
one.</p>

<p>Quibble
What people are doing when they say I’m wrong about something. Not to be
used when I say people are wrong about something. See Nitpicking.</p>

<p>Sidestep
A maneuver to make a virtue of when you don’t know how to answer an
objection.</p>

<p>Significant
Adjective to use of work that you suspect is not well-founded or even sane,
but is by someone on your side.</p>

<p>Tolerance
Believing whatever I say, with no questions asked.</p>

2

<p>LOVE it, Xiggi…I’ll smile for an hour over this!!!</p>

3

<p>Funny stuff xiggi. There is something there for everyone .</p>

4

<p>For a second, I thought to call them the CC “Rules of Engagement.”</p>

<p>Oh, by the way, I do not claim to be the author of this. I was emailed to me and must be circulating on the web. I should have written that little caveat on the original post.</p>

5

<p>So true, Xiggi. Great find, even if you didn’t write it. H and I were discussing something similar yesterday. Started with an alternative medicine discussion – so pervasive here in Germany. People like to engage me in challenges to traditional medicine, once they know of my nursing background. </p>

<p>A two-fold proof:
a. It worked for me. Therefore, it works for everyone.
b. It didn’t work for me. Therefore, it never works.</p>

<p>A variation of this fallacy (substitute “happened to me” or “happened to a friend”…) can be found in many discussions of politics, religion, education, discrimination, hurricanes, or potty training… Passion and logic sometimes seem to be inversely proportional.</p>

<p>I really enjoy reading thoughtful discussions, where people with differing viewpoints enter into respectful debate. Personal experience is a valuable component. Sometimes I am clueless about “the other side” and want to know where they’re coming from. It has even happened that my way of thinking has been changed because of a point I’d never thought about! It seldom happens, though, when “the other side” is calling me names or making blanket statements about “my side.”</p>

<p>My little rant for the day.</p>

6

<p>Because of my tolerance, I am comfortable with bashing the bigots, whose elitist ideology is an evidence of defensive sidestepping and is full of demonizing assumptions and nitpicking assertions.
These fanatics always quibble over my arguments, demonstrating intolerance to my acceptance.
In my opinion, my significant perspective is absolutely not an obfuscation, even though my adversaries gleefully claim it is.</p>

7

<p>gcf:</p>

<p>Great summary of a great list of useful terminology with which to bash your opponents and turn your opinions into received wisdom. :)</p>

8

<p>Xiggi - great list!
GCF - great usage!</p>

9

<p>xiggi: You are the Jim Rome of the college crowd. (5 points to the first person who knows why.)</p>

10

<p>cd - You got me, altho I won’t get the 5 points. Had to Google Jim Rome to see who (or what) he was. But even tho I’m a sports fan, I had no clue what he is all about, so no chance of winning your contest.</p>

<p>gcf - brilliant.</p>

11

<p>Ditto! </p>

<p>I had to go google to find about Jim Rome. I rather leave the 5 points on the table than speculate about the comparison. Jim does not seem to be a very nice fellow! :)</p>

<p>GCF, that was superb!</p>