Comment by wenc

Maybe it's possible to do both?

I've always been told to always "address the ideas, not the person" (never attack someone's character) and to adopt a pose of "curiosity".

In discourse, it's perfectly fine to dispute ideas (it's the foundation of Western civilization and of analytical thought, and is a means to knowledge and wisdom).

If we cannot argue in a marketplace of ideas, we are prevented from having hard but necessary conversations. We need to adhere to parameters of civility of course, but to me, a necessary freedom is the freedom to disagree/dispute. Some ideas are truly wrong and they need to be put through the crucible.