Comments on: Know the Room http://www.notnews.org/s-o-s/know-the-room.html Philosophy, public affairs and pop culture. Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:26:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Dave Thomer http://www.notnews.org/s-o-s/know-the-room.html#comment-60 Dave Thomer Wed, 04 Jan 2006 14:10:02 +0000 http://www.notnews.org/s-o-s/know-the-room.html#comment-60 I tend to employ the same rule. In face to face discussions, it's easy to get caught up emotionally and start trying to "win" the argument, and that tends to get heightened for me with my family - similar personality types ramming into each other at high speed. Plus, and this may seem kind of silly, at the dinner table I'm away from my computer, my bookcase, and my newspaper. So I'm dealing only with stuff I half-remember from previous reading, not with fresh information that deals with the issue at hand. That just leads to fuzzier arguments and the spread of not-quite-right data, and that doesn't get anyone anywhere good. I tend to employ the same rule. In face to face discussions, it’s easy to get caught up emotionally and start trying to “win” the argument, and that tends to get heightened for me with my family - similar personality types ramming into each other at high speed.

Plus, and this may seem kind of silly, at the dinner table I’m away from my computer, my bookcase, and my newspaper. So I’m dealing only with stuff I half-remember from previous reading, not with fresh information that deals with the issue at hand. That just leads to fuzzier arguments and the spread of not-quite-right data, and that doesn’t get anyone anywhere good.

]]> By: Earl Green http://www.notnews.org/s-o-s/know-the-room.html#comment-58 Earl Green Wed, 04 Jan 2006 08:08:00 +0000 http://www.notnews.org/s-o-s/know-the-room.html#comment-58 Y'know, I have a hard and fast rule about political discussions at the dinner table. If said dinner table is at my house, then, quite simply, I won't have it. Seriously. I know that sounds a bit fascist of me, but given how much of my job time I get to spend hearing about politics, anymore I honestly have no desire to discuss it at home, especially not at a family gathering which is incredibly rare in my home due to different schedules. I'm not going to have those rare, fleeting moments ruined. At someone else's dinner table, I'll usually just politely sit back and let everyone else carry on the discussion. If someone has to ask me what my opinion is, I give it to them: my opinion is that I doubt anyone really wants to hear my political standpoint at the dinner table. My family and my wife's family tend to use me as the "go-to" guy when they need someone with a differing opinion to rail against since they're all usually joined in a right-leaning lockstep. If I know someone's just waiting for a chance to try to shoot me down...why would I hand 'em the ammo? And before anyone's eyebrows shoot further up their skulls, there's a very real reason I do this, and it's nothing to do with intolerance of differing opinions: I have enough trouble with my gastric plumbing processing food without a heated political/religious/work-related discussion acidizing my stomach juices. :-P Y’know, I have a hard and fast rule about political discussions at the dinner table. If said dinner table is at my house, then, quite simply, I won’t have it. Seriously. I know that sounds a bit fascist of me, but given how much of my job time I get to spend hearing about politics, anymore I honestly have no desire to discuss it at home, especially not at a family gathering which is incredibly rare in my home due to different schedules. I’m not going to have those rare, fleeting moments ruined.

At someone else’s dinner table, I’ll usually just politely sit back and let everyone else carry on the discussion. If someone has to ask me what my opinion is, I give it to them: my opinion is that I doubt anyone really wants to hear my political standpoint at the dinner table. My family and my wife’s family tend to use me as the “go-to” guy when they need someone with a differing opinion to rail against since they’re all usually joined in a right-leaning lockstep. If I know someone’s just waiting for a chance to try to shoot me down…why would I hand ‘em the ammo?

And before anyone’s eyebrows shoot further up their skulls, there’s a very real reason I do this, and it’s nothing to do with intolerance of differing opinions: I have enough trouble with my gastric plumbing processing food without a heated political/religious/work-related discussion acidizing my stomach juices. :-P

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