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It doesn't take long for threads to devolve.

Lorgar-Aurelian

Lorgar-Aurelian

Active Member
You every notice that it doesn't take long for a lot of our religious and even non-religious threads to turn into a bunch of people asserting they are right and the other person has a childish view? Sometimes I just look through random threads and can't help but notice how little time it takes for people to devolve into condescending remarks. The kind of thing I would expect on /pol/ just less racism.

I mean I get it, a lot of these threads question the very heart of an ideology you hold dear. It seems so obvious to a lot of us that we are right. It is easy to get all swept up in emotion. It just seems that sometimes people think the only solution to disagreeing with someone is to call them deluded or a liar ect.

Maybe it's just me, maybe this isn't as common as I think it is but it seems like it is. Do you think certain ideologies are more likely to have people resort to this sort of behavior? You know the culty "Everyone outside of my ideological group is just a filthy liar." or "Deluded beyond all help." ?
 
CogentPhilosopher

CogentPhilosopher

Philosophy Student
Lorgar-Aurelian said:
You every notice that it doesn't take long for a lot of our religious and even non-religious threads to turn into a bunch of people asserting they are right and the other person has a childish view? Sometimes I just look through random threads and can't help but notice how little time it takes for people to devolve into condescending remarks. The kind of thing I would expect on /pol/ just less racism.

I mean I get it, a lot of these threads question the very heart of an ideology you hold dear. It seems so obvious to a lot of us that we are right. It is easy to get all swept up in emotion. It just seems that sometimes people think the only solution to disagreeing with someone is to call them deluded or a liar ect.

Maybe it's just me, maybe this isn't as common as I think it is but it seems like it is. Do you think certain ideologies are more likely to have people resort to this sort of behavior? You know the culty "Everyone outside of my ideological group is just a filthy liar." or "Deluded beyond all help." ?
Click to expand...

I'm not going to lie, this site is making me think that there might be some people that are deluded beyond all help.
 
crowfeather

crowfeather

One
Yes I notice. It's very common indeed.
Apparently, many forum users find it amusing to abuse others in the most outrageous ways, while simultaneously thinking themselves non-judgmental, reasonable, open-minded, free-thinking, and civilized.
It's a shame, but there's nothing to be done about it.
The real meat and potatoes is in discovering how to cope with it.
 
CogentPhilosopher

CogentPhilosopher

Philosophy Student
Lorgar-Aurelian said:
You every notice that it doesn't take long for a lot of our religious and even non-religious threads to turn into a bunch of people asserting they are right and the other person has a childish view? Sometimes I just look through random threads and can't help but notice how little time it takes for people to devolve into condescending remarks. The kind of thing I would expect on /pol/ just less racism.

I mean I get it, a lot of these threads question the very heart of an ideology you hold dear. It seems so obvious to a lot of us that we are right. It is easy to get all swept up in emotion. It just seems that sometimes people think the only solution to disagreeing with someone is to call them deluded or a liar ect.

Maybe it's just me, maybe this isn't as common as I think it is but it seems like it is. Do you think certain ideologies are more likely to have people resort to this sort of behavior? You know the culty "Everyone outside of my ideological group is just a filthy liar." or "Deluded beyond all help." ?
Click to expand...

To be broad I think it happens more often among non-skeptics than skeptics.
 
Kilgore Trout

Kilgore Trout

Misanthropic Humanist
Lorgar-Aurelian said:
Damn it Kilgore you sexual beast from the nether realms who's penis reaches into the very heavens to slap gods you dislike in the face with rock hard willy fury. I DISAGREE!!!!!! REEEEEEEEEEEEE
Click to expand...

That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.


I'm so happy, right now.
 
D

Desert Snake

Veteran Member
Lorgar-Aurelian said:
You every notice that it doesn't take long for a lot of our religious and even non-religious threads to turn into a bunch of people asserting they are right and the other person has a childish view? Sometimes I just look through random threads and can't help but notice how little time it takes for people to devolve into condescending remarks. The kind of thing I would expect on /pol/ just less racism.

I mean I get it, a lot of these threads question the very heart of an ideology you hold dear. It seems so obvious to a lot of us that we are right. It is easy to get all swept up in emotion. It just seems that sometimes people think the only solution to disagreeing with someone is to call them deluded or a liar ect.

Maybe it's just me, maybe this isn't as common as I think it is but it seems like it is. Do you think certain ideologies are more likely to have people resort to this sort of behavior? You know the culty "Everyone outside of my ideological group is just a filthy liar." or "Deluded beyond all help." ?
Click to expand...

Religion for most is their comfort zone. Threaten anything they were indoctrinated with, and watch the claws come out. A good example is my circumcision threads, where being objective is pretty much non-existant.
 
A Vestigial Mote

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
crowfeather said:
Yes I notice. It's very common indeed.
Apparently, many forum users find it amusing to abuse others in the most outrageous ways, while simultaneously thinking themselves non-judgmental, reasonable, open-minded, free-thinking, and civilized.
It's a shame, but there's nothing to be done about it.
The real meat and potatoes is in discovering how to cope with it.
Click to expand...

While reading this, I am reminded that I lash out at others quite often, but I don't think of myself as "non-judgmental" - whether we like it or not, we all make judgments - and I freely admit that I do so - not "pre-judging" mind you (though I don't know that I can claim 100% innocence on that front either) - but judging what I see before me. Especially in this online setting, where it is many times painfully obvious that many who think they are without fault muster the most dazzling array of faulty presentation imaginable. I have to admit that I likely act on my judgments more often than others. Then again, I have never taken an oath or sworn myself to a cause that deemed making such judgments a "wrong."

I can be reasonable, and I am open to things that have correlation to the real world I experience day in, day out as the only reality there is - or those that have proper evidence or reason to invest in understanding entities that don't present themselves in life.

I don't necessarily lay claim to being "civilized" - I feel the notion itself (in this day and age) has become somewhat synonymous with "political correctness" - a level at which I would never even pretend that I operate. Perhaps I am "a shame". I really wouldn't know - as I am confident that I have full capacity to cope with any and all of it.
 
Katzpur

Katzpur

Not your average Mormon
Lorgar-Aurelian said:
You every notice that it doesn't take long for a lot of our religious and even non-religious threads to turn into a bunch of people asserting they are right and the other person has a childish view? Sometimes I just look through random threads and can't help but notice how little time it takes for people to devolve into condescending remarks. The kind of thing I would expect on /pol/ just less racism.

I mean I get it, a lot of these threads question the very heart of an ideology you hold dear. It seems so obvious to a lot of us that we are right. It is easy to get all swept up in emotion. It just seems that sometimes people think the only solution to disagreeing with someone is to call them deluded or a liar ect.

Maybe it's just me, maybe this isn't as common as I think it is but it seems like it is. Do you think certain ideologies are more likely to have people resort to this sort of behavior? You know the culty "Everyone outside of my ideological group is just a filthy liar." or "Deluded beyond all help." ?
Click to expand...
What you're describing happens all the time, and it bugs me to no end. I never have understood why people can't just discuss their differences of opinion civilly, but it seems to be downright impossible for a lot of folks. I'm not sure to what degree it's certain ideologies themselves that seem to attract certain types of people, or if it's just a matter of how different personalities react to being challenged.

My own feelings are that the more comfortable a person is in his own skin, the less likely he is to get all riled up about his beliefs or worldview absolutely having to be "right" and everybody else's "wrong." In most of my posts, I try to express even my strongest convictions as just being my point of view. I'll start a sentence or paragraph with "I believe that..." or "In my opinion..." or "The way I see it..." or "According to my religion's theology..." But more often than not, I just get told, "Well, you're wrong. So there."

Some people will just leave it at that, which is annoying enough, since religious beliefs are, after all, merely beliefs and not provable facts. But others insist on attacking the other person's intelligence, honesty, and character. For me, the biggest problem is that these behaviors seem to be acceptable on this forum. On another forum I post on frequently, blatantly demeaning posts would be deleted so fast it would make your head spin. Since the offending posters have come to realize that they can't get away with certain behaviors, most of them don't stick around for long. Here on RF (except on the DIR forums) it seems like pretty much anything goes, and in the end it benefits nobody to have to wade through all of the nonsense certain individuals can't seem to keep from posting.

Also, I used to report posts that were an obvious attempt to derail the topic of the OP, but it never did any good so I've pretty much stopped. I refuse to answer posts that are way off-topic, though. I find them very annoying.
 
siti

siti

Well-Known Member
I rather enjoy being a curmudgeonly old git now and again. Its not nearly so much fun if you don't get to insult the intelligence of one's dim-witted opponent now and then - don't you think? I also enjoy the flapping attempts at disparaging rejoinders that come back at me now and again. Do you think there's something wrong with me?:mad:
 
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