Read:

My favorite article this week is a throwback post that recently resurfaced from Brain Pickings: How to Criticize with Kindness: Philosopher Daniel Dennett on the Four Steps to Arguing Intelligently.

Dennett asks the question: “Just how charitable are you supposed to be when criticizing the views of an opponent?”

This is an incredibly important topic–if we never learn to criticize or dissent effectively, so little can ever be accomplished. It’s an essential skill to learn as editors and agents, because so much of our work hinges on providing feedback to authors. And anyone who’s ever tried to edit someone else’s writing knows what a touchy thing it can be–writing is an extremely personal thing, and being told that your writing should be changed can sometimes feel like a personal attack. That’s why it’s the responsibility of critics/editors/agents/everyone to deliver feedback in a way that will make your subject receptive, rather than defensive.

And luckily, some of our most brilliant minds, like Daniel Dennett, have distilled strategies for delivering criticism in a way that will advance a discussion. As Maria Popov writes:

In Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking (public library) — the same fantastic volume that gave us Dennett on the dignity and art-science of making mistakes — he offers what he calls “the best antidote [for the] tendency to caricature one’s opponent”: a list of rules formulated decades ago by the legendary social psychologist and game theorist Anatol Rapoport, best-known for originating the famous tit-for-tat strategy of game theory. Dennett synthesizes the steps:

How to compose a successful critical commentary:

1. You should attempt to re-express your target’s position so clearly, vividly, and fairly that your target says, “Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it that way.
2. You should list any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).
3. You should mention anything you have learned from your target.
4. Only then are you permitted to say so much as a word of rebuttal or criticism.

If only the same code of conduct could be applied to critical commentary online, particularly to the indelible inferno of comments.

But rather than a naively utopian, Pollyannaish approach to debate, Dennett points out this is actually a sound psychological strategy that accomplishes one key thing: It transforms your opponent into a more receptive audience for your criticism or dissent, which in turn helps advance the discussion.

I feel like printing those four steps and tacking them above my desk!

If you don’t already follow Brain Pickings, take a look around the site. Maria Popov is an “interestingness hunter-gatherer” who reads voraciously then shares the best learnings, insights, and quotes on her site. It’s one of the best reads out there for curious minds!

Eat:

Fat! In case you haven’t heard, saturated fat is actually good for you. I remember reading Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma several years ago and having my mind blown when he explained how the low fat craze had little scientific basis, aside from a few deeply flawed, but highly publicized scientific studies. The fat-is-good movement has only picked up steam since then, and now more and more people are taking a more refined view of the role of fat in our diets.

Rendered duck fat. Photo by Holly A. Heyser. Source.

So, if we no longer have to purge any and all animal fat from our diets, which type of fat is best? Well, the most natural kind!

Hank Shaw had a great post this week about why he cooks with duck fat. And the simple reason is that he has access to duck fat from wild ducks, who’ve fattened themselves on grains, and who provide a fat as natural and clean as you could ever hope for.

Lucky us, Jarrett went duck hunting in Missouri over the holidays. It was near the end of the season, so ducks were scarce, but the duck club was kind enough to donate some of the stored meat to us yuppies from the East. I already have visions dancing in my head of the Duck Confit and Duck à L’Orange we’ll make!

Read Hank Shaw’s full post here on why fat is a glorious, precious thing, as well as how to render your own fat from wild ducks, wild hogs, geese, and other wild animals!

Drink:

Santa brought us a bounty of new cookbooks and cocktail books this year, and Jarrett’s favorite so far has been Shake: A New Perspective on Cocktails by Eric Prum and Josh Williams.

We both love that the recipes are so simple–you never have to make a fancy simple syrup or infusion. Almost all of the recipes require nothing more than combining one or two types of liquor, a juice or soda, and fresh herbs. I’m especially happy about this, because the sooner Jarrett finishes mixing up cocktails, the sooner I can pull his butt back into the kitchen to help me cook!

Here’s the first recipe we tried from the book. This blackberry cocktail was bright, fruity, but not too sweet. It’s the perfect drink to brighten up a blah Wednesday in the middle of a blah January.

Blackberry Fence Hopper

Makes two cocktails.

Ingredients: