Paul Davidson's communication model

[P8475423@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (PMDF V4.3-13 #6323) id <01HVP1DVROF88XDGEN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; Mon, 25 Sep 1995 13:46:03 +1000]

A comment on Paul's reaction to Michael's criticism of his
argumentative style:

> You have some good ideas, but you push them to such dogmatic extremes that
> you do yourself a disservice.

To which Paul replied:

|Interesting comment. Unfortunately when you do not make a stark statement
|, the reader (or listener) does not think you said something that is
|completely different. You have to shock people into rethinking their
|position.  Otherwise, the easy response is just that this is an
|idiosyncratic variant of what everyone else has said. Only by making
|things black or white, can you make people realize you are not just
|another shade of grey!

Paul, no-one on this list suffers from the delusion that you are "just
another shade of grey". Neither do many of us suffer from the inability
to consider nuances in debate.

Your "black and white" also concerns not just your own views--which,
believe me, have come through "load and clear"--but your manner of
rebutting any interpretation which is not 100% consonant with your own.

After a while of such "black and white" receptions, some people may
get tired of talking with you. Your "message" will then completely
fail to get through. It also gives the impression that the learning
process with you is entirely one-way--from PD to everyone else. Surely
someone whose mentor, when accused of inconsistency, once stated "When
I am shown to be wrong, I change my mind. What do you do?", could not
have such a one-way view of communcation?

Cheers,
Steve Keen