On conflicts, #1
1 min
| Summary | |
|---|---|
| Issue | People don’t always use the same definition for every term. |
| Exploit | Prove your point by assigning a different meaning to a term. |
| Exploit example | In a recent social debate the word “woke” is defined differently by various debate participants, despite having a clear definition in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. |
| Defence | Align on terms and definitions before the debate, or at any point when needed. |
A lot of conflicts emerge because of different and contradictory definitions that the conflict sides assign to the same term.
Sometimes the solution for the conflicting parties is very easy – spend two minutes on aligning on terms and definitions. For natural language terms, they can agree to use a certain dictionary or encyclopedia, e.g. Wikipedia. For specialised terms, they can create a commonly accepted glossary.
Sometimes both conflicting parties refuse to continue unless the conversation uses a definition of a term according to their liking. These are the cases where the magical power of words only works if these words mean what the parties want them to mean. If you find yourself in this type of argument, run. ■