Cloudscape

The exaggeration of a point of view will automatically give rise to a counteraction from its opponents, rather than suppressing them. It does not help at all to exaggerate in order to convince your opponents, contrariwise, it will give them an opportunity to further contradict your point of view.

Exaggeration will make you seem less plausible, so that your arguments are more susceptible to skepticism. Once the error of your exaggeration has been uncovered, you are no longer trusted in anything you say or do. This can be dangerous, because you may in fact represent a point of view that, except for its exaggeration, may in fact have a core of truth.

Do not try to argue against the opponents of your point of view, but instead try to argue with them. Be as objective as possible, so that you may invite your objectors to do the same. Rather than trying to show how much we are right and the other is wrong, let us seek for the truth together.

Be open to all points of view, and do not cling to your own. Not only will this help you to find more insight into truth yourself and not be blinded by attachment to your own opinion, but by following another's line of thinking, you may also better be able to falsify it, and so share your own insight into the truth with others.

A common example of how exaggeration has led to increased skepticism is global warming. By announcing the end of the world, many people, including scientists, have only brought about only more controversy about whether or not global warming is effectively happening. With all the prophets around to declare doomsday, many people eventually came to see climate change as a pseudoscience.

If you have a view which is extreme and seems exaggerated because of being controversial, then when propounding it, try to remember to state that it is a mere possibility, a hypothesis, so that others may be more open to it. After all, thought experiments, even when untrue, can always be interesting.