Dialectic
Apr 15th, 2005, 01:39 AM
This is somewhat related to this thread:
http://www.thefighting44s.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?t=3113
But since I'm trying real hard not to be blunt, condescending, or holier-than-thou (witness this thread (http://www.thefighting44s.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?t=3424&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0) with Bartleby), I'm strarting a new thread.
Sometimes, I'll announce that I or another Founder (most notably Sheki or Tojo) say that we're going to make a final post in a thread, or that there's nothing more to say. We don't do this to try to sound big or dominating; we know this is just an anonymous internet forum.
We do this because, in these cases, we have participated in the thread enough to know the following:
1) That we're not going to hear anything new from our opponents, and that going any further will result in repetition and inevitable degradation and personal attacks, if they haven't occurred already.
2) That our opponents do not understand what we're saying, and do not recognize that we have COMPLETELY dismantled them. I know I could use a term other than "dismantled," and I'm not trying to sound adversarial here: despite our jokes, we are not assholes or unpleasant people by nature. We actually get along with 99% of people we meet. But we are compelled to become adversarial when either someone is an asshole to us (which occurs very often on this forum, taking a lot of the fun out of it) or when someone says something so completely ridiculous that they are an asshole for just being that ignorant. And in these cases, we dismantle them.
There's also more than one way to be hostile: "You're a P.C. fuck" or "You're a dumbass" or "You're a bigot" are just the most blatant. "You behaved like a wounded animal and lashed out irrationally; I forgive you" is another.
When every argument a poster offers has been acknowledged, when the poster indicates s/he is unable to understand an argument or recognize when a point has been negated, when a poster becomes unpleasant and hostile and that hostility comes through in the posts directly or indirectly, then there's nothing more to say.
http://www.thefighting44s.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?t=3113
But since I'm trying real hard not to be blunt, condescending, or holier-than-thou (witness this thread (http://www.thefighting44s.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?t=3424&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0) with Bartleby), I'm strarting a new thread.
Sometimes, I'll announce that I or another Founder (most notably Sheki or Tojo) say that we're going to make a final post in a thread, or that there's nothing more to say. We don't do this to try to sound big or dominating; we know this is just an anonymous internet forum.
We do this because, in these cases, we have participated in the thread enough to know the following:
1) That we're not going to hear anything new from our opponents, and that going any further will result in repetition and inevitable degradation and personal attacks, if they haven't occurred already.
2) That our opponents do not understand what we're saying, and do not recognize that we have COMPLETELY dismantled them. I know I could use a term other than "dismantled," and I'm not trying to sound adversarial here: despite our jokes, we are not assholes or unpleasant people by nature. We actually get along with 99% of people we meet. But we are compelled to become adversarial when either someone is an asshole to us (which occurs very often on this forum, taking a lot of the fun out of it) or when someone says something so completely ridiculous that they are an asshole for just being that ignorant. And in these cases, we dismantle them.
There's also more than one way to be hostile: "You're a P.C. fuck" or "You're a dumbass" or "You're a bigot" are just the most blatant. "You behaved like a wounded animal and lashed out irrationally; I forgive you" is another.
When every argument a poster offers has been acknowledged, when the poster indicates s/he is unable to understand an argument or recognize when a point has been negated, when a poster becomes unpleasant and hostile and that hostility comes through in the posts directly or indirectly, then there's nothing more to say.