Editing Paul Graham (programmer) (section)

==Graham's hierarchy of disagreement==
[[File:Graham's Hierarchy of Disagreement-en.svg|right|thumb|upright=1.8|Graham's hierarchy of disagreement]]
Graham proposed a disagreement hierarchy in a 2008 essay "How to Disagree",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.paulgraham.com/disagree.html |title=How to Disagree |publisher=Paul Graham |last=Graham |first=Paul |date=March 2008 |access-date=27 October 2023}}</ref> putting types of [[argument]] into a seven-point hierarchy and observing that "If moving up the disagreement hierarchy makes people less mean, that will make most of them happier." Graham also suggested that the hierarchy can be thought of as a pyramid, as the highest forms of disagreement are rarer.

Following this hierarchy, Graham notes that articulate forms of name-calling (e.g., "The author is a self-important dilettante") are no different from crude insults. When in disagreement people often become more animated and engaged, and this leads to them becoming angry.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Leslie |first1=Ian |title=How to have better arguments online |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/16/how-to-have-better-arguments-social-media-politics-conflict |website=The Guardian |publisher=Guardian News & Media Limited |access-date=28 October 2023 |date=16 October 2021}}</ref> At the lower levels, the attacks are directed against the person, which can be hateful. Higher levels of argument are directed against the idea, which is easier to recognize and accept.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Koblin |first1=Jonas |title=Graham's Hierarchy of Disagreement |url=https://sproutsschools.com/grahams-hierarchy-of-disagreement/ |website=Sproutsschools.com |publisher=Sprouts Learning Co., Ltd. |access-date=2 November 2023 |date=18 August 2022}}</ref> When people argue at the higher levels, the exchange of viewpoint is more informative and helpful.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Harris |first1=Gregory |title=Learning to disagree: Paul Graham and the hierarchy of argumentative quality |url=https://warbletoncouncil.org/paul-graham-jerarquia-calidad-argumentativa-7222 |website=warbletoncouncil.org |access-date=2 November 2023 |date=14 August 2021}}</ref>