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Reasonable Person Principle

cs.cmu.edu

61–70 of 120 posts

Re: Reasonable Person Principle

#62
post #53

Makes sense. Good summary. I've heard it mentioned as "don't be a jerk", "don't first assume when others act like jerks they always meant to". The last part, avoids quick escalations of misunderstandings. Interestingly just last year I remember someone posted the syllabus to the Advanced Database Systems: http://15721.courses.cs.cmu.edu/spring2017/ (latest version). Really good stuff there. But one thing I noticed th…

That is odd. Maybe it's an in-joke alluding to database triggers or something? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_trigger

Re: Reasonable Person Principle

#64

I think one common reason people are not reasonable is they lack proficiency in the needed social skills. I think books like Marshall Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication can be helpful here.

Indeed. In my experience, unreasonableness in interpersonal contexts often seems to stem from unmet emotional needs. Having the tools to deescalate the situation and address those needs is critical to getting emotional arguments back on to the rails of civil discussion.

Re: Reasonable Person Principle

#65
post #62
post #53

Makes sense. Good summary. I've heard it mentioned as "don't be a jerk", "don't first assume when others act like jerks they always meant to". The last part, avoids quick escalations of misunderstandings. Interestingly just last year I remember someone posted the syllabus to the Advanced Database Systems: http://15721.courses.cs.cmu.edu/spring2017/ (latest version). Really good stuff there. But one thing I noticed th…

That is odd. Maybe it's an in-joke alluding to database triggers or something? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_trigger

Oh you may be right. I couldn't see the pattern right away though. Is it memory resident databases, and it is a pun on them not really being considered "databases"...?

Re: Reasonable Person Principle

#66
post #40
post #37

Reasonableness requires self-awareness and an appreciation for the common good. Its staggering how absent those qualities are in many people, and how these attributes evaporate in the face of strong emotion. Regardless, the "Reasonable Person" is a staple in litigation, used as a benchmark for conduct where the specifics are too complicated or variable to consider individually. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reasonabl…

Yep, in the US at least, I consider this a big flaw in the legal system, since "reasonable" people really don't exist in this country. The recent election is proof of this. We need a legal standard that doesn't rely on something that's fictional.

A reasonable person understands and accepts the wildly different views in a society. They try to find common ground anyway.

Re: Reasonable Person Principle

#67
post #37

Reasonableness requires self-awareness and an appreciation for the common good. Its staggering how absent those qualities are in many people, and how these attributes evaporate in the face of strong emotion. Regardless, the "Reasonable Person" is a staple in litigation, used as a benchmark for conduct where the specifics are too complicated or variable to consider individually. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reasonabl…

The legal idea of a reasonable person is not the same thing, they share a similar name only.

Re: Reasonable Person Principle

#68
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, in the US at least, I consider this a big flaw in the legal system, since "reasonable" people really don't exist in this country. The recent election is proof of this. We need a legal standard that doesn't rely on something that's fictional.

I'd say you just exemplified the problem. While you view the election as proof of unreasonableness of half the voters, I see your outright dismissal as a clear inability to see an opposing view and hence unreasonable.

it's worse than that, the poster doesn't understand what the reasonable person test for law actually is, even though a wiki article on it was posted.

Re: Reasonable Person Principle

#69
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was just going to write that and you beat me to it. Who really would seriously follow this? Possibly the same people who argue passionately about coding standards over being productive? Just struck me as silly.

Reasonable people can argue passionately about coding standards in a conversation about coding standards, but make compromises about coding standards when it's time to actually complete a project with other people.

Zak, you have a pretty high Karma so you just down vote me because you don't like my opinion and I certainly wasn't rude or harsh in my language. Is that reasonable?

Re: Reasonable Person Principle

#70
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, in the US at least, I consider this a big flaw in the legal system, since "reasonable" people really don't exist in this country. The recent election is proof of this. We need a legal standard that doesn't rely on something that's fictional.

I'd say you just exemplified the problem. While you view the election as proof of unreasonableness of half the voters, I see your outright dismissal as a clear inability to see an opposing view and hence unreasonable.

Maybe he didn't dismiss them outright. Maybe he looked at things from their perspective first, analyzed their beliefs and arguments and concluded that they did not make their decision based on facts[1] and rationality.

[1]Unless you count "alternative facts" of course, in which case their viewpoint is just as valid as yours!

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