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by toofy 2840 days ago
> ... without proposing any solutions...

While I don't necessarily agree with everything the poster is saying--implying that someone is only allowed to discuss topics in which they have a readily available solution would likely ruin most discussion on the internet and it would certainly put a damper on scientific work the world over.

1 comments

I thought the pre-edit version of your comment was more interesting. Debate is a very different thing from scientific research. I think debates have better outcomes when you follow a few rules (civility, charity, a focus on possible solutions that benefit all parties). The rules for scientific R&D are different.

But whether the "enlightenment project" benefits from simply making complaints is a valid question. I still think the answer is no, or at least that if you're going to make a complaint, your position is improved by proposing a solution for discussion. I concede that it might be possible to make an effective and evidence-based counterargument, but are there meaningful social movements which have been based solely on complaining about stuff with no action platform?