This is an experiment. Rule L-0 is: write your literal meaning. We may introduce other rules (L-1, L-2, ...) as we go, but L-0 is meant to make this thread different from all others.
The inspiration was a situation in another of our other political threads, where it seemed like two posters were at cross-purposes because one may or may not have been using irony or sarcasm, the other may or may not have understood that and responded in kind, and a third poster then made assumptions about the other two.
So what if we tried to be as sincere and precise in our meanings as we could? Obviously we will still disagree often, but maybe if we screen out the snark and jokes we would get to the points of disagreement relatively quickly, and understand each other with greater clarity.
A few thoughts:
We can still write "In my opinion..." since that's a valid truth statement, but when we do we should try to back the opinion up with facts or at least testable assertions. "In my opinion that is incorrect" is true but not very helpful. "In my opinion that is incorrect because x, y, z..." is much more valuable.
As far as possible, it is probably a good idea to steer clear of normative or provocative language. "In my opinion that's stupid" might be a true picture of your current mental state but, again, unhelpful. "In my opinion that ignores the evidence that..." is something the other poster can work with.
