Comment by Forrest Curo on 10th mo. 13, 2012 at 6:03pm

"I always welcome comments, but ..."

 

In my experience, so far, you accept comments that fit your framing of an issue.

If there happens to be an alternate frame offered, no -- Rather than "welcome" it, you grade it like an elementary school teacher on how well it translates into your own mental universe.

[Politically, by the way, I pretty much agree with what your post is saying. I just can't consider reluctance to engage with divergent takes anything to  brag about. In some cases it might turn out to be the wisest course in practice -- but if you truly "welcome" comments, you'd do better not to fuss in advance...]

As someone was saying recently -- and he certainly didn't invent it -- the people we're most likely to learn anything new from are people who disagree with us. [It isn't a question of "how much they know" as much as "what haven't we thought of?"]

(Since I don't get nearly enough comments on anything I write, my own way of "welcoming" them evidently doesn't work all that well. Yours only disinclines me, so far as I know.)

Comment by Jim Wilson on 10th mo. 14, 2012 at 4:57pm

Friends:

Just for blanace, I've had a different experience at Dr. Arnold's blog.  I once posted a criticism of a source he was using in a seris of posts.  Dr. Arnold pubished it, along with his own rebuttal.  Fair enough.

Thy Friend Jim

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