Elizabeth Bruenig

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

@hmmmmmmmmmmmn *absolutely* — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

to this thread about the kind of persuasion that's actually effective, i would add: to persuade someone to adopt your view of an issue, you've got to persuade them in a grander sense that you actually want them on your side, want fellowship with them. that's tough to fake. — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

whipass cover of a banger https://t.co/GdtM7RObVB — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

@asvaidya oh i am a FIRM believer in both partners in marriage having lots and lots and lots of time apart from one another to spend with friends, colleagues, solo hobbies, etc. matt takes hours-long walks, goes into the city, etc without me all the time. it's a good thing — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

@cold_lo i think that was legit hitchens' take. and what do i know? possibly true! — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

was in a synagogue in dc listening to hitchens talk about his book near the end, and he was on his usual edgelord shit about how men really prefer to love men but tolerate women and i glanced at matt and he was just making a full on tucker carlson huh face...bout had to step out — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

@CTMathewes @AgnesCallard just as the sky cannot brook two suns! — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

@AgnesCallard i've been messing around with the idea of an essay on the (sort of) mirror image of the phenomenon you describe here: wherein you somehow want to become (and perhaps in some sense /do/ become) the person that you love — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

@rhbrandon we have separate domains of total sovereignty — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

@oriondjones LD — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

oh yeah i want to be clear: i wasn't a particularly good debater! i had a decent record because i'm a decent speaker, but i wasn't anything special on the circuit. my husband, otoh, debated me several times in practice rounds over the years — and beat me every single time — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

of course, that mode of persuasion, which actually works, is aimed at achieving a unified community of equal dignity, not at defeating and humiliating your ideological opponents, so it's less fun to post about, and therefore less popular as a technique — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

now, since the suppliers of dignity are other members of the community, it's perfectly possible to make that offer and make it real: totally see how you came to your conclusions, respect your right to draw them, and disagreement is by no means excommunication! but i wonder... — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

people are going to protect the ego, sense of self, identity, whatever, at pretty much all costs. the more fringe the view, the more likely they've retreated into an armored certitude. to exit, they need to trust there's a dignified identity waiting on the other side — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

you have to not only posit the merits in a way that's weak enough to plant a seed of doubt without triggering a double-down, but also imply enough respect for their worldview that they feel confident they can make the jump while maintaining their status/dignity — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

like: yeah, it sucks to be anyone other than achilles if you're in the same racket and hoping for glory, but at the same time, you gotta hand it to him! — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

people have different responses to excellence, glory. i'm sort of compelled by the antique response, which is just to credit excellence with glory where you see it, and accept that it's going to announce itself pretty prominently. maybe my least Christian tendency — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

hmm well i was myself a debate coach and the whole thing is indeed about glory! — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

this was always a fun framework to hit ("this is an educational activity and squirrelly ks are abuse") because it's just a teleological argument, which: go ahead punk, make my day — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

need some good desk toys. what desk toys you got — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

american competitive debate is the glass bead game! it's fine, totally decent way to spend your time, has some positive aspects. it's just that you should have to pass a psych eval to qualify — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

for my husband, it was the reverse: dicey in prelims, and he'd often go to outs as bottom seed, but then he'd absolutely slaughter. due to the inconsistency in judging our small team developed a theory of moral victory — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

@socialism_stan you can do that by being pretty. welcome to the world — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

but judges at that level aren't anything like ordinary people, and they're scoring points that would be virtually unintelligible to normal listeners. in debate, as in life, the truth is irrelevant & cannot save you. it's about navigating bullshit matrices of power and convention — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

winning the TOC — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

debate is a game, and it's a good game with all kinds of helpful habits of mind to impart. but it's not about persuasion. persuasion happens through relationships — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

@jaycaspiankang no joke there was a kid on our circuit who ran biopower vcs every single tournament and he had this intense foghorn leghorn accent so the top of the aff was always BAAAIOHPOWUH — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

@opinion_left no this is a policy cancer that metastasized to LD — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

the other evil knock-on effect of debate is that it's given rise to a generation of youtube philosopher-pundits who, like, spread. i'm happy for you or sorry that happened but i'm not flowing that shit so you might as well just drop the tempo — PolitiTweet.org

Elizabeth Bruenig @ebruenig

RT @AgnesCallard: I wrote about infidelity, lust and jealousy. https://t.co/H01C4Rmhrw — PolitiTweet.org