this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2024
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As a middle ground kind of guy, I would like to pre-emptively state that a lot of us don't actually think the answer is always the middle ground between two stances. It's just that we're more likely to propose a middle ground solution because we evaluate the plausibility of both stances in a more balanced way (as opposed to existing-stance-holders who are prone to bias towards their own stance.) When the two seem roughly equal in plausibility (which happens fairly often, otherwise the argument would be more one-sided,) that's an indication to evaluate the middle ground as well.
Middle ground folks are often caricaturized as wanting to find the middle ground between an objectively sensible point A and a radically wrong point B, when the spectrum of opinions is sort of like [ - - - - - A - | - - - - - - B ]. In that caricature, we're looking for a middle ground at point C [ - - - - - A - | - - C - - - B ], when in actuality we're evaluating (and not automatically accepting) something two or three steps closer to A. In some such cases, A might already be the most sensible middle ground.
Middle implies middle. If you are leaning towards a side, then you're side-leaning. You can't have your cake and eat it too, centrist, that's what everyone makes fun of ya'll for.
It's "somewhere in the middle". You are putting to much emphasis on "middle" and not enough of "somewhere".
Somewhere in the middle means there's a middle and side-leaning, yes.
This is why people hate pedants. You're technically correct, it's just a useless distinction that only exists to make you feel better.
That's exactly how I feel about centrists. Curious.
Somewhere in the middle means it doesn't have to be dead center - it just has be between the two extremes and not exactly one of the extremes. To put it in numbers, somewhere in the middle between 0 and 1 is not just 0.5. It can also be 0.4. Or 0.7. Or 0.00000000001.
If i have a very plain boring hamburger. Bun cheese patty bun, are the cheese and patty in the middle? Middle doesnt always mean center, center doesnt always mean exactly in the center between 2 points either because thats why the term dead center exists
It's hilarious he had to make us a little drawing making up his own scale that fits this narrative.
It's an abstraction of a caricature I've seen. Point A was civil rights, point B was the KKK, and the middle ground guy was like "what if we only kill half of Black people?"