Politeness leads to mediocrity ONLY if the participants are both of mediocre intellect.
I have had quite lively and stimulating discussions that were PAINFULLY polite, and anything BUT boring. I have also given up on loudmouths who think that the louder you get, the more likely you are to win a “debate”.
I leave the tone of any further discussion to you.
I have had quite lively and stimulating discussions that were PAINFULLY polite, and anything BUT boring. I have also given up on loudmouths who think that the louder you get, the more likely you are to win a “debate”.
It's become obvious to me that I made my point about politeness rather poorly. I do not believe that politeness is a bad thing by any means, and I didn't really mean to say that.
The point I was trying to make (clumsily) is that politeness leads to mediocrity when it prevents any criticism or correction from happening - in other words, when politeness gets in the way of the truth.
It is definitely possible to speak the truth politely; in fact, it's often the best way to speak the truth.
I leave the tone of any further discussion to you.
Man, all this just because I said "Free Republic is not a blog" and trueblackman thought it had something to do with my "feelings."