The Three Differences
Not every difference is a disagreement. Claims can be settled, perspectives can be toured, tastes can be shown — and each takes a different kind of hosting.
The three kinds
Diagnose before you host. One question sorts most cases: could any fact settle this? Yes — it’s a claim. No, but each is right from where they stand — perspective. No, and nothing hangs on settling it — taste.
| Kind | The test | Sounds like | Host response | Moves | Failure mode |
|---|
The diagnosis feeds Surfacing Difference; a confirmed claim difference can carry The Debate spine; taste belongs at The Symposium.
Kenneth Williams and union leader Jimmy Reid, born to similar streets, have been circling their politics politely.
Parkinson“you came from very, very similar backgrounds, and yet you’ve arrived at totally different conclusions about society”
Surfacing Difference, diagnosed as perspective — watch (12:43).
Worked example
One difference, diagnosed before it was hosted.
Guest A“Homeschooling is educational malpractice.”
Two kinds of difference are tangled here — a measurable claim inside a clash of values.
Guest B“Our kids test three grades ahead.”
Host“Before anyone reloads — could any fact settle this between you?”
The diagnosis, asked out loud.
Guest A“…Part of it, I suppose.”
Host“Then the factual part first. ‘Three grades ahead’ — measured how?”
The claim gets its crux (Quantifying).
Host, later“The rest is two bets about what childhood is for. A — describe the childhood B is optimizing for, well enough that she nods.”
The perspective half gets Touring the Positions, not a verdict.
Try it now
Three rounds of Name the Difference, right here. Out loud.