In a debate, the participants are playing a game with each other. Each participant is trying to make oneself right and the other person wrong. Very seldom inroads are made into knowledge through debate. A debate is ego driven, and usually ends up in conflicts.
In a discussion, the game is very different. Here the participants are teaming up together against ignorance. Inroads are often made into knowledge through discussion.
The game of knowledge is played better through discussion. It is successful as long as attention is kept to the subject and not diverted on to any participant. This is how science progresses.
The moment allegations are introduced that are critical of any participant in the game of knowledge… the progress, as far as knowledge is concerned, comes to a stop. Ad hominem is a special case of this.
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BEING CONDESCENDING
con·de·scend·ing
showing or implying a usually patronizing descent from dignity or superiority: They resented the older neighbors’ condescending cordiality.
con·de·scend
to behave as if one is conscious of descending from a superior position, rank, or dignity.
Origin: 1300–50; Middle English condescenden < Late Latin condēscendere (see con-, descend); replacing Middle English condescendre < Middle French [Intensive of descend, to come down]
pa·tron·iz·ing
displaying or indicative of an offensively condescending manner: a patronizing greeting, accompanied by a gentle pat on the pack.
pa·tron·ize
to behave in an offensively condescending manner toward: a professor who patronizes his students.
pa·tron
Roman History. the protector of a dependent or client, often the former master of a freedman still retaining certain rights over him.
Origin: 1250–1300; Middle English < Medieval Latin, Latin patrōnus legal protector, advocate (Medieval Latin: lord, master), derivative of pater father.
Can the confident behavior of another be taken as offensively condescending?
Can “offensively concescending” be part of the filter that one is looking through, while having nothing to do with the characteristics of what is being looking at?
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SIN
Sin is basically an action which one knows to be wrong. It is wrong because
(1) One has been told that it is wrong.
(2) One feels that one would be rejected by others when found out.
One restrains oneself from committing the sin. Attention remains on sinful actions and their consequences. One commits the sin when one can no longer restrain oneself. There is a conflict simply because a true understanding of why some action is a sin is not present.
When one is self-determined, one naturally understands the wrongness of an action. It is an action that goes against one’s self-determinism. One would never commit such an action.
But when one is not allowed to be self-determined, and one’s thinking is determined by others, then that natural understanding of wrongness is missing. There is a constant unease at the back of one’s mind. Guilt is simply a magnified intensity of that unease.
The feeling of uneasiness and guilt evaporates when one takes a self-determined look at the conflict surrounding one’s actions. As one starts to spot inconsistencies, the understanding starts to improve, and the feeling of guilt lessens. One then knows what self-determined actions truly are, and what sin really is.
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Glossary
Debate
In a debate, each participant is trying to make oneself right and the other person wrong. Very seldom inroads are made into knowledge through debate. A debate is ego driven, and usually ends up in conflicts.
Discussion
A discussion is very different from a debate. Here the participants are teaming up together against ignorance. Inroads are often made into knowledge through discussion.
Sin
Sin is basically an action which one knows to be wrong. It is an action that goes against one’s self-determinism. One would never commit such an action. But when one is not allowed to be self-determined, and one’s thinking is determined by others, then that natural understanding of wrongness is missing. It is replaced by a feeling of unease at the back of one’s mind. The feeling of uneasiness evaporates when one takes a self-determined look at the conflict surrounding one’s actions.
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