What are the dangers of playing the devil's advocate?
Answer:
I think the biggest danger is that people won't have the gray matter to understand that you're not really thinking a certain way about a topic. My husband teaches high school English and is constantly playing devil's advocate to get his students to really think through important issues and to argue their opinions in a more logical way. Every now and then a student will walk away thinking HE believes a certain way simply because he offered the other side to a topic (thus missing the point entirely).
So yeah, sometimes it can backfire b/c you're misunderstood. I personally LOVE the entire concept.
best to be honest and real - don't cha think?
You are asking for trouble and critisism.
what's the devil's advocate? (starred ya!)
Most people who do that preface it by saying, "I'm just playing devils advocate..." but it can be annoying if you do it all the time, especially when people aren't interested in the other point of view, like if it is a friend just venting about her day.
But in many situations it is a good way to make sure you consider both sides of an issue. You certainly could be misunderstood and seen as argumentative, but if you make it clear that you are just playing devil's advocate that shouldn't happen.
Not if you just tell them up front that you are playing the devil's advocate.
In fact, if you use this methodology, you will usually garner more interest in your ideas.
You can piss someone off?!?! What is your motivation for asking this question? The answer(s) to your question is(are) common sense.
Great question. I do this all the time at work just to get a good debate going. It can backfire too. Some people are either too passionate about the topic or too dumb to see that you are leading them. I also do this on occasion on this site and get all kinds of people mad at me. I do this on the baseball topic arguing FOR Barry Bonds. Taking his side. It gets nasty, but I can respect the passion.
When the debate gets too hot, though, you gotta bail.
It makes you feel good about yourself. because people who know you well enough recognise when you are doing it... and you have this sort of little codified game going on the side... and you can demonstrate just how clever you are being, at getting your point across... "humbly" of course... because people out fo the loop see it as their idea to iron out your wrinkles.
So, I know you do it because it makes you feel good about yourself... and that's OK too. People should feel good about themselves.
It is a very effective way of getting people talking and thinking about a subject. I have been really lucky in that I have met a lot of very smart people who have really challenged me which has really made me think about issues.
For example at University the head of the Social Work Department would quietly make the most outrageous statements, misquote Acts and reverse research findings all dead pan at the end of a lecture. Then he would leave you to seethe.
I would prepare all the evidence to 'prove' him wrong for the one to one tutorial. It took me weeks of burning the late night candle before I 'got' his game. Then I started playing the game on him. You had to really know your stuff to catch him out though.
Yes it can go horribly wrong. Some people really dislike it. Sometimes it feels really uncomfortable to have your views challenged and yep it can be a good in-joke Gazpacho.
I don't think you'll be misunderstood if you're, say, in some sort of debate with people who have the same level of intelligence as you. If you address another "side" seriously, giving it credit for its point of view. Stepping in an opponents shoes can open up intricacies that may enlighten both sides. I'll never forget an assignment in a psych class where we had to convincingly express "Point of view." I chose a very controversial photograph in a newspaper. In the process of writing each side, I could actually think & feel very deeply the opposite views, as if they were my own. I always do this in my head, but expressing it verbally invites more clarity. Of course, I'm not referring to an intent to deceive, or to bait. It's like flipping a coin to examine opinion, conjecture, evidence. I did, however, once convince someone I was of a different political persuasion than I am, by saying virtually nothing pro or con, using satire that went completely over his head. (I had to work with him for a period of time & this was the most efficient way to avoid arguments.) I don't see how it could "backfire" if used appropriately. &, if you're talking with your peers, there's no need to announce it. "Hey, I'm going to switch sides now!" They'd only think I was being a fool.
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