Am I asking a question? - 1 comment

Here are two possibilities: firstly I might be genuinely curious for an answer, and I might demonstrate that with evidence of my own thought and research.

Alternatively, I might in fact have simply rephrased my own opinion into question form in order to signal my view sufficiently clearly to attract the support of my intended allies. By not committing myself I can retreat with minimal loss of face if the questioning gets too hot and heavy.

It's tempting to take this route, and it's something that's far easier to do in a blog post than verbally, but it's not something I'd recommend (even though I've done it on more than one occasion): it suggests one is more concerned with not being shown to be wrong than in finding the truth in an issue, and that 'reputation' starts high and is lost through 'mistakes', rather than low, and built up through good and interesting argument. It's also a sign of timidity. That should be a wake-up call to either do more research, try to find a fresh angle, or to state your view explicitly and take the hits.

This boring post was inspired by this piece.