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Joseph Maynor

How to Stop Being Conclusory: Support your Claims with Reasons, Detail, or Evidence

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What bothers me the most, and I would never ban anybody for this but I would give some very public spankings, are people who make a lot of conclusory statements and never provide any support for their claims, whether they be anecdotal or otherwise.  These people just drop their harsh opinions everywhere and have no interest in discussion.  It's a disease.  There's only a handful of people who watch their conclusions and their reasons for their conclusions like a hawk.  Most Egos do not want their conclusions challenged or demands made for detail and support for their claims.  But I find the more self-aware I become, the more I see that as a very neurotic need to "feel right" but without earning it, without proving it.  I feel like asking people -- prove it, either by your own observation or experience, anecdotes, evidence, detail or something -- but support your conclusions.  When you become sensitive to this, you can't unsee it.  Everything you say should be backed up by something.  And you gotta police yourself here and not force others to write you a ticket for it.  I think the best sort of ethos we can have on the forum is don't say something unless you can back it up.  No more rhetorical turns of phrase being bandied about without any intention to discuss them, and asserted as if they were bald-faced facts.  People differ in how often they use rhetoric too.  Some people use rhetoric much more so than others do, and you can come to spot those people.  There exists a spectrum between extreme "straight-shooters" and extremely manipulative communicators.  I think the moderators should push back on these kinds of conclusory statements with, "Oh yeah?, give us a little more detail, evidence, support for your conclusion/claim."  People need to become much more mindful of their judgments and the foundations or bases for their judgments.

Edited by Joseph Maynor

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