They said &quot;almost certainly&quot;, and put &quot;last subway line Japan will ever build&quot; in bold font for emphasis. In any case, that really isn&#x27;t a very strong argument:<p>&quot;The next level up we start to see responses to the writing, rather than the writer. The lowest form of these is to disagree with the author&#x27;s tone. E.g.
I can&#x27;t believe the author dismisses intelligent design in such a cavalier fashion.
Though better than attacking the author, this is still a weak form of disagreement. It matters much more whether the author is wrong or right than what his tone is. Especially since tone is so hard to judge. Someone who has a chip on their shoulder about some topic might be offended by a tone that to other readers seemed neutral.<p>So if the worst thing you can say about something is to criticize its tone, you&#x27;re not saying much. Is the author flippant, but correct? Better that than grave and wrong. And if the author is incorrect somewhere, say where.&quot; <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;paulgraham.com&#x2F;disagree.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;paulgraham.com&#x2F;disagree.html</a>