Eight Rules of Discussion

Eight Rules of Fruitful Discussion

1. Hold the term. Synonyms do not exist.

2. The lonely zombie. An isolated concept is dead. Introduce concepts in tuples.

3. The task in the background. While the participants display the beauty of their style in the foreground, the task for which all this is happening remains in the background. If the speeches in the foreground do not clarify the task, then we are wasting time.

4. Justification of the tuple. Anyone who introduces concepts in tuples should expect four questions:

   1. Is the tuple homogeneous?
   2. Is the tuple complete?
   3. Is the order of the tuple unambiguous?
   4. Where did this tuple come from?

5. Structuring. We are surrounded by continuous scales with an infinite number of values. But our results must work as a way of choosing at a point of choice in the life of an ordinary person. There will be little time; one cannot deal with infinity, because the person will not have time to make a decision. Therefore, we not only have the right, but the obligation, to replace infinite scales with finite sequences.

6. Problem statement and solution. Suppose we are reading someone else’s philosophical text, and a particular thought in it provokes resistance in us. If the text is philosophical, then every statement in it is either part of the problem statement or part of the solution. What problem? What solution to what problem? Let us examine this problem. Is it relevant to you? If not, forget it. If it is relevant, solve it yourself.

7. Self-application. A system that describes thinking is itself part of thinking. It must obey all the rules that it imposes on other forms of thinking.

8. Openness forever. A closed problem can always be reopened if new data or new ideas appear.

Notes

The first two rules are justified by the transition from Euclid to Hilbert in the history of mathematics: Hilbert and Euclid.

The fourth rule is justified by the history of physics: Kepler, Newton, and the Sandwich.

The seventh rule is justified by the line Cantor - Russell - Godel - Turing: Self-Application.

Rules 3, 5, 6, and 8 are justified by reference to metamodernity: practical benefit for people and the solution of current human problems move to the foreground. See Postmodernity and Metamodernity.

Justification of the tuple is self-applicable: this applies both to the four questions inside rule 4 and to the tuple “eight rules” itself.

Both can be reduced to the justification of TUAI.

In rule 4, the answers to questions 2 and 3 do not have to be positive. But the questions must be asked.

For example, the rainbow is not complete.

The binary cube as a tuple of eight elements has several equally valid orders.

Justification of the tuple comes down to this thought: there are many answers to the same question, but you must choose one. Why this one? Why is it better than the others?