Greindl,
Ah, but could not one be overconfident in their ability to handle uncertainties? People might interpret your well-reasoned arguments about uncertain things as arrogant if you do not acknowledge the existence of unknown variables. Thus, you might say, “If there’s a 70% probability of X, and a 50% probability of Y, then there’s a clear 35% probability of Z,” while another is thinking, “That arrogant fool hasn’t thought about A, B, C, D, and E!” In truth, those factors may have been irrelevant, or so obvious that you didn’t mention their impact, but all the audience heard was your definitive statement. I’m not arguing that there is a better style (you might confuse people, which would be far worse), but I do think there are ways that people can be offended by it without being irrational. Claiming so seems very akin to Freud claiming his opponents had oedipal complexes.
There are also many factors that contribute to an assessment that someone is ‘overconfident,’ aside from their main writings.
Greindl, Ah, but could not one be overconfident in their ability to handle uncertainties? People might interpret your well-reasoned arguments about uncertain things as arrogant if you do not acknowledge the existence of unknown variables. Thus, you might say, “If there’s a 70% probability of X, and a 50% probability of Y, then there’s a clear 35% probability of Z,” while another is thinking, “That arrogant fool hasn’t thought about A, B, C, D, and E!” In truth, those factors may have been irrelevant, or so obvious that you didn’t mention their impact, but all the audience heard was your definitive statement. I’m not arguing that there is a better style (you might confuse people, which would be far worse), but I do think there are ways that people can be offended by it without being irrational. Claiming so seems very akin to Freud claiming his opponents had oedipal complexes.
There are also many factors that contribute to an assessment that someone is ‘overconfident,’ aside from their main writings.
Cool name, by the way. What are its origins?