Grant Edwards <inva...@invalid.invalid> writes: > Answering a yes/no question with "no" doesn't seem to me to be > combative if the correct answer is indeed "no". But I've lost > track of the post you found objectionable...
In fairness, the “No” was in response, not to an explicit question, but to an assertion. Every assertion expressed, though, implies the question “is this assertion true?”. It was that question that was answered “No” (followed by an explanation of why the assertion was not true). People sometimes get upset — on an immediate, irrational level — when their assertions are challenged. There's no denying that emotions entangle our discourse, and our interpretation of the discourse of others. That's not something I'd ever want to eradicate. I ask only that, rather than decrying that assertions be challenged per se, the challenge be assessed to see whether it's valid. -- \ “Everything you read in newspapers is absolutely true, except | `\ for that rare story of which you happen to have first-hand | _o__) knowledge.” —Erwin Knoll | Ben Finney -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list