Countering

At first thought, it's easy to think that countering would mean the rebuttle of someone's statement or argument. And in fact, this is a part of it. However, according to Harris, there is much more to it. Like Harris says, "countering is not to nullify, but to suggest a different way of thinking...". Countering is not just the act of arguing against something, but more you have to offer up your own way of thinking, and offer it as a replacement for the original author's view. Instead of claiming that the author's ideas are dead wrong, a counter-er might instead claim the author's ideas to be partial, and they need some clarification or additional information. When looking through the blogs, I didn't have to go past my own page to find examples of this. I am guilty of just proving people dead wrong, (Hedges would be a good example of that), but I found some examples where I don't just argue against them, but offer my own opinions with information that can back me up, and either build on the original author's ideas or alter them altogether. I believe that countering with a good standpoint and good information can build on your thesis or argument, whereas just denying someones writing with no opinion of your own can diminish the strength of your argument, and make you look like you just plain don't like the person (from own personal experience, Hedges would again fit this mold very well).