[comment]: # (Compile this presentation with the command below) [comment]: # (mdslides docs.md --include dist) [comment]: # (...or by running the Makefile with "make") ### To talk about anything 1. [**Find a good tone** & get informed consent](#/1) 2. [**Pick a claim** & clarify](#/2) 3. [**Ask for confidence** on a scale & calibrate](#/3) 4. [**Identify main reason**](#/4) 5. [**Explore & assess** epi­stemology & reliability](#/5) 6. [**End on aporia**, a question, a good tone](#/6) 7. [Consider & prepare](#/7) 8. [Learn more & share](#/8) \ Swipe ↓[about](#/0/1), →[proceed](#/1)

#### What is this? Imagine a topic you find dif­fi­cult – *poli­tical*, *ideo­logi­cal*, *reli­gi­ous*, or maybe some­thing *con­fusing* or *harmful*… \ Do you offer critique? Facts? De­ri­sion? A pas­sio­nate plea to change their mind? \ Or do you just avoid the topic, and distance yourself? \ This is **a practical intro** for talking about **difficult topics**, using [Street Epistemology](#/0/2). \ Swipe ↓[more](#/0/2), →[proceed](#/1)

#### What is Street Epistemology (SE)? * A way, th­rough civil con­ver­sa­tion, to help one reflect on the qua­lity of one's reasoning. * A way to have friendly dia­logue about con­ten­ti­ous topics. * A conversa­tio­nal tool­box for ex­plo­ring ideas and beliefs. * A community that prac­tices SE in a frien­dly environment. * A way to introduce [Epistemology](#/0/3) into every­day conversations. \ Swipe ↓[more](#/0/3), →[proceed](#/1)

#### What is Epistemology? The field of Philosophy focusing on *how* we know what we know. \ *«How do we know if some­thing is true?»* \ *«Which methods and tools can we employ to determine this?»* \ By [Introducing SE](#/0/4) we try to bring epistemology from academia into everyday life. \ Swipe ↓[more](#/0/4), →[proceed](#/1)

#### What is Introducing.SE? * This is a prac­tical in­tro­duc­tion and over­view of Street Episte­mology (SE) * …a site for your phone, with use­ful tips for prac­ti­cing SE. * …a way to [share SE](#/8/2) with anyone interested. \ Welcome to the Street Epistemology community! \ Swipe →[proceed](#/1)

### 1. Find a good tone & get informed consent * Establish **friendly rap­port**, and maintain it. * Tell them your intentions, so they may consent. * Show you're inter­ested & listening. * Show your curiosity; explore their ideas! * Share what you have in common. * Be respectful, be charitable \ Swipe ↓[more](#/1/1), →[proceed](#/2)

#### Politeness & intentions * Share [your intentions](#/7) upfront. * [Describe](#/0) or explain this method, and ask if they are open for exploring! * Recording? **Ask for consent**. * Offer to set a timer if they have limited time. \ Swipe ↓[more](#/1/2), →[proceed](#/2)

#### Patience & practice *Keeping a frien­dly tone is critical for success*. <br> * *Be patient* – You may need to have a few «soft» chats before pro­ce­eding with a con­ten­tious topic. * *Don't offer facts* (*topic rebut­tal*), un­less asked. Instead focus on the methods (*tech­nique rebuttal*). * *Stay cool* – Avoiding *topic rebut­tal* often re­quires practice. * *Practice* – [SE may at first be easier with strangers](#/8). \ Swipe ↓[more](#/1/3) →[proceed](#/2)

#### Adopt a learner's attitude * Be **Self-directed** – ask about what you find curious or confusing. * … **Open-minded** – there's always something to learn! * … **Single-minded** – focus on one topic until you grasp it. * and **Thorough** – don't just acknowledge, but try to *connect ideas*. \ *«Let's solve this mystery together.»* \ Swipe ↓[more](#/1/4) →[proceed](#/2)

#### Ask for more; Don't tell * ✅ *«Can you help me under­stand what you mean with…»* * ✅ *«Do I understand you correctly…»* * ✅ *«How do I explain to someone else…»* * ❌ *«Don't you think that…»* * ❌ *«Are you saying that…»* * ❌ *«How do you justify…»* \ Swipe →[proceed](#/2)

### 2. Pick a claim & clarify * *«Do you have a claim you want to explore?»* * *«... a topic you wish more people knew of?»* * *«Would you mind if we explored this claim together?»* * Aim or a **single topic**. * Phrase the topic in the form of a claim. * Ask if it's a good claim to explore together. \ *Don't rush when considering claims!*

#### Clarifying terms *«True»* vs. *«True for me»* vs. *«True for all.»* <br> * *«What do you mean when you say …?»* * In *your own* words, **repeat** what you hear. * Have them **confirm** if you under­stand correctly. * Identify, clarify & qualify confusing words. * Use *their* de­fini­tions. \ *Take notes!*

#### Normative vs. factual *«Normative should;<br> Factual is.»* <br> * «Is» claims are often ea­sier to explore. * «Should» claims often re­quire extra work. * Sometimes, asking «why» helps you find a fac­tual claim to explore! \ *«If everybody changed to ag­ree­ing with your [norma­tive claim], what would change in the world?»* \ *«…[how confident](#/3) are you this change would happen?»*

#### Good & bad claims * ✅ Claim is specific, clear & terse. * ✅ …Foundational or im­portant for them. * ✅ …A positive phrase: *«I believe …»* * ❌ Not a negative phrase: ~~*«I don't believe …»*~~ * ⚠️ …Trivial or obvious. \ ⚠️ Stop if the claim is part of a [Safety Net](#/2/4)!

#### ⚠️ Stopping early A *Safety Net* is a belief that pre­vents an individual from doing harm to them­selves or others. \ *«My Belief helped me be­come sober, and without it I would probably drink myself to death.»* \ SE is not always the right tool to use, and **SE is not for therapy**. Please do no harm!

### 3. Ask for con­fi­dence on a scale & calibrate * *«How **confident** are you X is true?»* 0–100% * *«Why is that the right number for you?»* * *«What would move you up just a bit?»* * *«What would move you down a little?»* * *«What could change your mind?»*

#### Exploring confidence * At 100%, *«Would any­thing increase your con­fidence even higher?»* * *«How would physical evidence change your con­fidence?»* * At 0%, *«What reasons do you think others have for being higher?»* * Above 0%, *«Why not lower?»* * Below 100%, *«Why not higher?»*

#### Pre-contemplative — or not? * 100% or 0% con­fidence may indicate they are pre-­con­tem­pla­tive. * Maybe explore a «softer» topic first? * …Or ask them if they'd like to re­cali­brate their con­fidence! \ *«Can you imagine some­thing that would make you even more confident?»* \ *«If there is still room to be­come more con­fi­dent, what would you re­cali­brate your cur­rent con­fi­dence to?»*

#### Pre-contemplative II *«Is there anything you can think of, or learn, that would lower your confidence?»* \ *«Under what conditions would this claim be false?»* \ *«If you value evidence, what evidence would change your mind?»*

### 4. Identify main reason * **What reasons** did they use to arrive at their confidence? * Are there any other underlying reasons supporing this? * Try to find the most important source, experience or reason. \ *«What makes this particular reason a good one for you?»* \ *«If you could learn of a better reason to support this belief, what would it look like?»*

#### Exploring underlying reasons * *«If this reason was un­avail­able to you, would it change your con­fi­dence?»* * *«…if so, how would it change?»* * *«…and if not, **what else** is keeping you at your con­fi­dence level?»* * [Switching topic](#/2) or focu­sing on [another reason](#/4) is fine! \ *«Claim 2 seems to be important for your belief in claim 1. Would you mind if we explore it instead?»*

#### Many small, or a few large? * Take notes! * *A thousand small rea­sons, or a few big ones*? — explore to under­stand their back­ground. * With many small, ask how each in­flu­en­ces their confidence. * Is this influence ad­ditive (may surpass 100%) or mul­tipli­ca­tive (may never reach 100%)? * Let them re­cali­brate their con­fi­dence as needed. \ *When you're done, restate & sum­marize their reason(s).*

### 5. Explore & assess epistemology & reliablility *Is our epistemology reliable? Let's assess.* <br> * *«How did you arrive at the reason?»* * *«What method was used to determine the sound­ness of this reason?»* * *«How can we de­termine if this method is reliable?»* \ *«If a method or a reason is un­reli­able, how does this affect our as­sess­ment?»*

#### The key goal of SE * Explore the reliability of methods used when forming a belief. * *How* questions are bet­ter than *Why* & *What.* * Embrace their pauses, allow them to think! * *«Let's go through the steps together.»* \ *«How can we be con­fident if our methods aren't reliable?»*

#### Exploring reliability I **The outsider test**<br> – *«Would some­one using your rea­sons, but coming from a different starting point reach the same conclusion?»* **The consultant test**<br> – *«How would you evaluate this claim if it was **not** your own?»* **The double standard test**<br> – *«Am I judging other people’s reasoning by a standard I wouldn’t apply to myself?»*

#### Exploring reliability II **The conformity test**<br> – *«If other people no longer held this belief, to what extent would you still hold it?»* **The status quo bias test**<br> – *«If your current claim was not the status quo, would you still actively choose it?»* **The selective skeptic test**<br> – *«If the same reasoning supported a different or opposing conclusion, how credible would you judge it to be?»*

#### Recognizing unreliable reasons * ❌ [Informal fallacies](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies#Informal_fallacies), like *Appeals to auth­ority*, *ig­no­rance* or *tradition.* * ❌ [Cognitive biases](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias#List_of_biases), like *Con­fir­mation bias*, *Av­ail­abi­lity heu­ris­tic* and *Moti­vated reasoning.* * ❌ News sources are [biased or misleading](https://adfontesmedia.com/interactive-media-bias-chart/). * ❌ News sources that [fail fact checks](https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/). * ❌ Academic publi­cations that don't pass [the C.R.A.A.P. test](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRAAP_test). \ *«If a text only offers thoughts I agree with, how can I know it is truthful?»*

### 6. End on aporia, a question, a good tone * The best endings offer food for thought! * Try to end on a posi­tive note, with *wonder* or *[aporia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aporia)*. * Success? – You have it when **both are happy** to have had the con­ver­sation. * If you can, offer to con­tinue the chat later. * Maybe offer them a printed [Introducing.SE card](dist/media/introducing-se-card-2022-09-06.pdf)?

#### Reasons to return Some conversations may require several sessions. \ Give your conversation partner reasons to look forward to them! \ *«That was a good ques­tion. You're making me think!»*

### 7. Consider & prepare *Before engaging in SE, decide for yourself…* <br> * What's your goal? To learn, em­path­ize or help them change their mind? * Are you also open to learn and change your own mind? * Decide, and consider sharing your intentions upfront. * As you proceed, expect your goals and intentions to show.

#### Personal preparations * Expect them to dislike *scripted* conversations. * …or «interviewing». * …or leading questions. * …or overt «messaging». * …or being em­barrassed. * …or made to feel cornered. \ *— Listen actively and without pre­sump­tion.*

#### Practical preparations *Depending on your situation, you may also…* <br> * Bring something to take notes with. * Bring a friend! Let them listen in without par­ti­ci­pating, so they later can offer feedback. * Optionally, bring an audio recorder for your own reviewing or for sharing. * Optionally, bring a timer. * Print some [cards](dist/media/introducing-se-card-2022-07-05.pdf) to give away!

### 8. Learn more & share * Practice, learn and im­prove with a friendly community! * Find SE practitioners on [Discord](https://discord.gg/sKap3zM) & [elsewhere](https://streetepistemology.com/community). * SE videos, blogs, books, tutorials and more on [streetepistemology.com](https://streetepistemology.com/). * Share your ex­peri­ences with the Street Epi­ste­mology community, so we can improve together! * …And when you meet someone that may benefit from SE, [share this site](#/8/2)!

### Other SE resources Looking for another take on Street Epistemology? <br> * Check out the [Street Epistemology Basics](https://streetepistemology.com/blog/street-epistemology-the-basics). * Prefer videos? Check out LiveWell.Coach's [SE Tutorial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKr_phSSzes&list=PLEBCyAR7MPxk6fRihp-Op9UN2Tw_qI6FJ) on YouTube. * Also, there's an awesome [SE poster](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QNgN7HyzWE2AYm5VxaaRy9lqKQ6Y-zUm/view?usp=sharing)!

[](https://streetepistemology.com) ###### Street Epistemology [](https://introducing.se) ###### Introducing.SE

### About this site <p xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"><a property="dct:title" rel="cc:attributionURL" href="https://introducing.se">Introducing.SE</a> & content, by <a rel="cc:attributionURL dct:creator" property="cc:attributionName" href="https://twitter.com/sjoshuan">Salve J. Nilsen</a> & others, is licensed <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/?ref=chooser-v1" target="_blank" rel="license noopener noreferrer" style="display:inline-block;">CC-BY-SA-4.0 International <img style="height:22px!important;margin-left:3px;vertical-align:text-bottom;" src="dist/icons/cc.svg?ref=chooser-v1"><img style="height:22px!important;margin-left:3px;vertical-align:text-bottom;" src="dist/icons/by.svg?ref=chooser-v1"><img style="height:22px!important;margin-left:3px;vertical-align:text-bottom;" src="dist/icons/sa.svg?ref=chooser-v1"></a></p> <br> #### 🚧 Contribute 🚧 This site is a work in pro­gress. Please help us improve it! \ Source code, content, attributions and issue tracker is on [Github](https://github.com/sjn/introducing-se/). \ [🔙 *to start*](#)