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by cname 3253 days ago
A "good way to start a dialogue" is by starting with a trick question and likely putting the other person on the defensive?
1 comments

…No? I wouldn’t consider it a trick question, since I’m not trying to “catch” them or anything. The answer doesn’t even really matter. If we’re talking about “chemicals”, I think it’s a reasonable example to bring up.

That is, it’s not about being right or wrong, but making people think more deeply about a topic that I care about.

Something I used to do that did make people defensive & dismissive was to try to be technically correct, shit like “everything is chemicals”—which is true, but that’s not the meaning of “chemicals” under discussion, so it’s just smug and pedantic.