Posted by shar on February 2, 2003, at 4:02:51
In reply to Re: More semantics stuff » shar, posted by Dinah on February 2, 2003, at 3:42:15
> (Although, honestly, there are very few topics on which reasonable people disagree that I don't *understand* both sides of the issue. I may not agree, but I understand.)
..........So, do you understand why I thought the redneck joke was funny?
........And, really, I wanted my post to cover situations in which people (maybe unreasonable people) want to be understood, in a quite specific way. That is, I can understand your reaction to jokes that negatively target socially disadvantaged groups--in a global way, I can understand it, and I am offended by blatantly racist and sexist humor. However, the devil is in the details. The couple arguing about sex or money (two common topics) aren't likely to find peace if each one first needs to understand the other's point of view.
Or, maybe that's just my bizarre way of thinking about things. In my household, there is a rule that dogs don't get people food (it's always been a rule of mine) unless it's mixed in with their dinner of dog food. I have my reasons for the rule, several good ones, IMO. My niece (who stayed with me a while) has a completely different opinion about dogs and people food. I suppose I understand her reasons (they are complete sentences, comprehensible), I just think they're wrong. So, I can fully accept that she believes that, but I don't really "understand" how she can come to that conclusion given all the data to the contrary. In a way, I guess I read into what you were saying that you wanted more than people to comprehend the sentences you were saying, but to "understand" your conclusions, in spite of the fact that they differ from the other's conclusions.
Shar
P.S. What the heck are you doing up so late!?
poster:shar
thread:35991
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030201/msgs/36149.html