RE: Are you non-binary?
July 17, 2020 at 8:44 am
(This post was last modified: July 17, 2020 at 9:58 am by John 6IX Breezy.)
(July 17, 2020 at 3:23 am)ModusPonens1 Wrote: In which case, I was pointing out a contradiction.
No; I believe you're pointing out a poor choice of words. A choice I often make intentionally. I've noticed that most people prefer brief simplicity over lengthy accuracy. For this reason I often use terms such as "always," "never," and in this case "everyone," rather than the clumsier but perhaps more accurate "most of the time'" or "the majority of people." I prefer not to hedge my writing; I hope this clarification prevents any future misunderstandings.
"'Accuracy becomes pedantry if it is indulged for its own sake. A classic writer will phrase a subordinate point precisely but without the promise that it is technically accurate. The convention between writer and reader is that the writer is not to be challenged on these points because they are mere scaffolding.' Any adversary who is unscrupulous enough to give the least charitable reading to an unhedged statement will find an opening to attack the writer in a thicket of hedged ones anyway" (Pinker, 2014, p. 44).
Reference: Pinker, S. (2014). The sense of style: The thinking person's guide to writing in the 21st century. New York: Penguin Press.
