discussion paper-expressing opiniions in public

8/2/2019 Discussion Paper-Expressing Opiniions in Public

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This list is neither meant to be descriptive nor complete. Rather, it is afinger painted trail towards our current means of public discourse.

Each of the above forms of public debate has their rules and recent times manyhave come to say that the ‘Art of letter writing’ is being lost especially as weengage more and more in online discussion. To be more specific, the skill inwriting a well informed argument and responding to it, in kind is being lost. Asearch of the World Wide Web generates many responses on this topic, but fewonline sources discuss or develop strategies for a response to this concern.

Looking deeper into the issue what appears to be the issue, is not so much theloss of letter writing itself, this has largely been supplanted by email andelectronic text exchanges, but the lack of skill in developing a well informedargument i.e. thinking clearly, and presenting that in a public forum. That is,the skills involved in debating and arguing are progressively being lost and itis this that is the principle cause of concern to many.

These rules of public debate are an essential part of our social etiquetteinsofar as they provide a framework for engaging in discussion. Both for thepresentation of a point of view, opinion or argument and for the presentation of counter opinions, arguments and rebuttal.

Galvin, Prescott and Huseman, in ‘Business Communication strategies and skills’1992, state that clear thinking is essential in the course of our daily lives

and define it as the ability to see the difference between logical and illogicalarguments.

They also give a useful working definition for an argument stating, ‘…it is apiece of … writing which not only makes statements we are expected to believebut uses these statements as reasons for other statements (which we are alsoexpected to believe).’

From this we can see that expressing an opinion in public via some means of discourse transmission is in effect the presentation of an argument. As such

there are specific rules that allow us to best present that opinion.

With regard to public discourse and the expression of opinions there are twoprinciple types of argument that we come across that being Inductive andDeductive argument.

Typical forms of Inductive argument, or reasoning, involve arguing from aparticular point to a more general conclusion. It is probably the most commonfor of Examples of this are:

generalisation, e.g. in my experience this happened… thus it’s the sameeverywhere else;



Misuse of statistics, in the case of public opinion, involve the quoting of statistics ‘off the top of one’s head’ in order to give greater credibility tothe opinion, e.g. ‘1 in 7 foreign teachers in this country date their studentsor other persons of student age. 33% of these teachers are female.’

In this ESL community, the medium for the forums for public discussion, are theemail lists to which we subscribe. This medium relies on the written word. Veryfew caveats on what can be opined exist which creates a relatively freediscussion space. However, there are some accepted norms of behaviours thatalsoshape how opinions may be presented.

First and foremost is the issue of friendliness. This is the underlyingprinciple and relate directly to the principle fallacy of presenting arguments,that of attacking the person. The second is the restriction on directlyattacking the reputation of individuals and institutions by naming them and anyassociated complaints in public.

Of the accepted norms these can be summarized by the statement, ‘Be firm,friendly, fair and frank.’ This is where the art of letter writing is indeed anart. Email is electronic mail – that is, writing an email is in fact the writingof an electronic letter.

The trouble is that email communication is very ephemeral, and very fast. It is

so easy to tap out a response and send it off that the usual process of re-reading what was written before posting is often circumvented. This resultsin ill-conceived responses that may impinge on the accepted norms or theestablished rules for interacting in such a forum.

What follows are some guidelines for engaging in public debate and for writingletters of criticism.1. After you’ve read an opinion, climb down off the soapbox, take a deep breath,grab a cup of your favourite beverage and examine exactly what is narking youoff.

2. Ask the question, ‘Does the opinion presented contain particular fallacies inorder to support it?’ ‘How do those fallacies contribute to your current state?’3. In writing your response, quote the offending material first – be specific,then present your criticism, again be specific. If someone presents an argumentpeppered with fallacies it defeats the purpose to respond in kind.4. Wit is always preferable to sarcasm. Sarcasm is in many ways is a mechanismto put down or attack an individual as such it may not be perceived by people of differing cultural backgrounds as being particularly friendly. Wit however, isthe clever use of words often in a humorous manner and can often be found in theriposte or retort involved in verbal duelling.

5. Brevity and choice of words are hallmarks of Plain English and clearthinking. Be direct (firm), be honest (friendly), be specific (fair), be brief



(frank).

Barnett and Morell wrote in a section dealing with hints on composition,‘English Grammar & Analysis with exercises’ 1893, ‘Words are materials: becareful in the choice of them. A house, however well planned, cannot givesatisfaction if the bricks and mortar and timber are bad. The same remarkapplies to composition.’

They go onto suggest never using a word unless you are sure of its usage andmeaning; to use shorter words where possible; and if a word has more than onemeaning make sure your usage leave no doubt as to the meaning you intend.

The same applies for statements, make sure the your intended meaning is clear,ambiguous statements can lead to misunderstanding or misconstrued criticism.

This is probably the principle cause of flame wars and heated debate laden withpersonally directed invective.

6. If you are wrong, or have misunderstood the argument, apologise. There is noshame in admitting an error. Having said that, there is also no margin in makinga pantomime of one’s humbled self.7. Intellectual arrogance has no place in public debate, nor do strongly heldreligious or philosophical beliefs. Most people are not party to all theinformation you may think you know.

Brandishing such knowledge like a truncheon serves no purpose but to stifle

debate and stimulate animosity. However, careful and judicious use of such tosupport and expand one’s argument is a legitimate use.

Opinions are like ear holes, most people have a couple. As such the presentingof opinions in public forums is a common practice in society. It is essentialfor any society or social group from time to time analyse and evaluate its modesand conventions particularly with respect to public debate.

In a culturally diverse group the means by which we formulate, present anddebate opinions will from time to time change. Thus, our reputation within a

particular social group is built around the opinions we hold and how well wecommunicate them.

References:

Wark, McKenzie. ‘The Virtual Republic, Australia’s culture wars of the 1990’s.’Allen and Unwin. 1997

Galvin, M. Prescott, D. Husemane, R. ‘Business Communications, strategies and

skills.’ 4th Ed. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.1992

discussion paper-expressing opiniions in public

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