The thing I love about discussions and arguments is the different viewpoints and approaches to the problem. When it is the arguments that fight on their own merits, not the humans proposing the arguments. (I especially love it when you can have a heated argument with someone, but stay friendly outside that argument. Or, like Dave said in a recent video, that he has friends that have opinions he completely disagrees with. Me too; I like that.)
Because of how the human mind works, it is either impossible or takes too much time to shift between viewpoints; this is why even the most brilliant minds in the world like to cooperate with each other. The rest of us, like myself, can still participate and help via rational, logical arguments, no matter how simple. I sometimes like to be the devil's advocate, too, proposing an argument I do not really endorse, just to see the underlying reasons others have for their opinions/understanding on the subject. Those underlying reasons and experience is the valuable part, not the argument or opinion itself. Even if I completely disagree with the opinion, I can still appreciate the underlying reasons and experiences that "built" the opinion.
Science and engineering are tools of the mind. Science is a way to build models describing testable reality, and testing them, comparing them against the observed behaviour of the real world. Engineering is using science and the scientific models, to build useful mechanisms and tools and things in the real world. Both rely on the
scientific method, which itself is based on making conjectures or tentative explanations, and comparing the predictions of that conjecture or explanation to observable behaviour. Assertions are hypotheses devoid of explanation or model, and therefore utterly non-scientific.
(We do have
axioms or postulates that cannot be verified, but these are things like "physical reality can be described and physical processes described using mathematical equations". These have to be
agreed upon explicitly, and assumed to be true, so that we can build knowledge upon them. These are, therefore, only at the very core of things like maths and physics and chemistry.)
We have these wonderful tools of the mind; thousands of years, hundreds of generations in their making. When we use them, discuss problems with each other, and suggest solutions and explanations, we can build utterly amazing stuff. Just think of e.g. the
Socratic method as an example. In my opinion, the capability of having and using these tools are among the few truly admirable, beautiful features in all humans.
Consider, then, the frustration when you want to reach for that, but are constantly bogged down by social gaming and refusal to use logic or rational thought: the dismissal of the scientific method, and the reliance of logical fallacies like argument from authority, or assuming popularity correlates with quality or usability.
Chatting, instead of discussion, if you will.
I love to try and help if someone is struggling, but when humans refuse to use these amazing capabilities they have, apparently because it's too much effort or not as fun as playing social games, it is just heartbreaking.
Note that this has nothing to do with
stupidity. I know firsthand how it feels when one realizes someone else is so much smarter than oneself: like standing in the shadow of a huge granite monolith, and looking up; almost a dizzying sensation. Can be hard on ones ego, too. Dealing with stupidity is easier, as there is no malice or loss there; you just do what you can with what you have. But refusal to use logic and rational thought, and instead just rely on beliefs or instincts, or playing social games? That I cannot stomach. It is depressing.
Apologies for the wall of text.
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