Rapoport's Rules

Hi,

This week’s email is about a productive way to disagree with others.

The information here is from the book "Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking" by philosopher Daniel Dennett, who attributed it to psychologist Anatol Rapoport.

Here are the key practical points you should know:

• Rapoport's rules are a series of steps that you can follow in order to compose a critical commentary of someone’s position.

• To use them, start by trying to re-express your target’s position so clearly and fairly that they say “Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it that way.”

• Then, list any points of agreement (especially if they aren’t matters of widespread agreement), and mention anything that you learned from your target.

• Only after you do this should you start presenting any rebuttal or criticism.

• Doing this can demonstrate your willingness to engage with the opposing position and help you understand it, which can improve your arguments and how they’re received by others.

Rapoport’s rules are often hard to implement, and there are many cases where you might not use some or all of them, like when talking with someone who’s clearly uninterested in a good-faith discussion.

But, used correctly and in the right circumstances, these rules can be an effective tool. As Dennett says: "a heroic attempt to find a defensible interpretation of an [opponent's position], if it comes up empty, can be even more devastating than an angry hatchet job".

As always, I'm happy to hear your thoughts.

Have a great week,
Itamar