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How Civil Should a Disagreement Be?

Ian Leslie · 10 Oct 2026

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  1. More generally, a satisfying public debate should have a little spice, some electrical charge, even a little irrationality.
  2. Debaters who hide all unruly emotion behind a smooth veneer of civility can seem remote and inscrutable, and difficult to trust.
  3. Emotion can be the enemy of clear thinking, but it can also be its friend.

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