Jotted down at the gym a few days ago

[redbird]

Among my people, "Do you believe in that?" is not a very useful question.

I'm putting this here so I'll have a record of the thought once I recycle this piece of newspaper.

Comments

[crazysoph.livejournal.com]

I've always found this question aggressive, only rarely value-neutral, right up there with, "Is that so?" I think in response, "Of course it is, that's why I just said so!" (a bit trickier with belief, though - I remember speaking about a vampire novel to a church-going friend, who asked me if I believed in vampires...) I feel, the questioner poses it to imply that you are either a liar or a dupe, for believing something the questioner considers not worth belief.

I'm trying desperately to parse the words a la Suzette Hayden Elgin's books on verbal self-defense, and for the moment am getting nowhere. But it's early, and, at least as she says in one book, if you feel verbally attacked, then it is. I'm just not being very good at tracking down the specific language items of why that feels so for me.

Oh, yeah, and posing it as a question is a wolf-in-sheep's-clothing thing. Questions make the other look reasonable; a full-out honest declaration of their own position means the other has to go on the defense, rather than make you do all the work...

Eeep. I can't believe that just came out. Good find there, redbird

Crazy(off for some coffee, now...)Soph