Ways to avoid being fooled or intimidated in Internet discussions?

[dybmh]

If someone writes something that infuriates you, yell a bit at the screen, take a deep breath, go for a walk, takes some more deep breaths, and then think out your reply and type it out calmly.

Or, go find an old fax machine... and show no mercy. Then calmly type out the reply.

Have you ever seen the movie "office space".

 

[Rival]

Wow sister.. you make it sound so easy...

It is. It's only our ego that makes it hard.

 

[Augustus]

Assume anyone who claims a logical fallacy without explaining why the fallacy has been committed is wrong and either doesn't understand the fallacy or has misunderstood the post they are responding to.

You'll almost always be right, and anyway, claiming a fallacy without explaining it is the equivalent of saying "You're wrong, you're wrong, na na nana na."

 

[Rival]

I posted this Some Tips

...which Augustus aptly refuted here Some tips

............(And that only because I may have asked him to).

 

[dybmh]

It is. It's only our ego that makes it hard.

Well.. maybe I'll get there someday. But I doubt it will be this go-round, if you know what I mean.

 

[dybmh]

@Rival

Do you consider a desire for Justice to be a fault? Is it the product of the ego?

I had originally typed out what I think "justice" is; but decided to delete all that and just see how you would answer this question unqualified.

 

[Rival]

@Rival

Do you consider a desire for Justice to be a fault? Is it the product of the ego?

I had originally typed out what I think "justice" is; but decided to delete all that and just see how you would answer this question unqualified.

Depends on the justice. Is it justice based on your morality, beliefs? Is capital punishment justice?

Not an easy question bro.

 

[BSM1]

If you find that you're being handed your butt during a discussion, blame spell check...

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

If you find that you're being handed your butt during a discussion, blame spell check...

Some other things to blame too:

-Lack of sleep
-Politicians
-Wife got on and made my post

 

[Jim]

I think that sometimes when a person sees other people being stigmatized for some way of thinking, if they think that way themselves, they’ll keep it to themselves or deny it to themselves, or their way of thinking will change, so that they can escape from being stigmatized. Sometimes that happens to people without them realizing it. Part of what I was thinking was to point out some ways that happens, and how people can avoid it happening to them and help stop it from happening to other people. Also, ways that people can be fooled, so people can see better when it’s happening and not be fooled by it.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

I think that sometimes when a person sees other people being stigmatized for some way of thinking, if they think that way themselves, they’ll keep it to themselves or deny it to themselves, or their way of thinking will change, so that they can escape from being stigmatized. Sometimes that happens to people without them realizing it. Part of what I was thinking was to point out some ways that happens, and how people can avoid it happening to them and help stop it from happening to other people. Also, ways that people can be fooled, so people can see better when it’s happening and not be fooled by it.

I guess I can't relate fully. I have yet to reach a point where I feel overly persuaded, let alone pressured, by arguments here. I see a lot of rhetoric sometimes, but I don't see near the toxic propaganda I experience just from reading Reddit and watching YouTube.

 

[dybmh]

Depends on the justice. Is it justice based on your morality, beliefs? Is capital punishment justice?

Not an easy question bro.

Yeah, I know. That's why I didn't qualify it at first. I wanted your gut response. can I send you a PM to talk about it more?

 

[dybmh]

Some other things to blame too:

-Lack of sleep
-Politicians
-Wife got on and made my post

Well played. I like the cut of your jib. ( link )

 

[Rival]

Yeah, I know. That's why I didn't qualify it at first. I wanted your gut response. can I send you a PM to talk about it more?

If you like

 

[LuisDantas]

NOTE: My reason for posting this in a debate forum is not because I want to debate about it, myself. It’s because I want to allow as much freedom as possible for people to say what they think.

This is for people to post their ideas about how to avoid being fooled or intimidated into silence or submission, and help others avoid being fooled or intimidated into silence or submission, in Internet discussions.

Mainly, I think that you should establish very clear and specific parameters on what is expected and acceptable before the discussion begins, insist on having the talk stopped entirely if and when those parameters are violated, and stick to that.

Of course, doing that sacrifices quite a bit of the usefulness of the discussion, but that is how the ball rolls. There is a place for safety, there is a place for relevance, and in these days of barely contained hostility the intersection is just not as big as it probably ought to be.

 

[dybmh]

Mainly, I think that you should establish very clear and specific parameters on what is expected and acceptable before the discussion begins, insist on having the talk stopped entirely if and when those parameters are violated, and stick to that.

Of course, doing that sacrifices quite a bit of the usefulness of the discussion, but that is how the ball rolls. There is a place for safety, there is a place for relevance, and in these days of barely contained hostility the intersection is just not as big as it probably ought to be.

I honestly think this is great advice. And if I may, there are a few RF'ers that I have seen do this with class and style. Bravo for bringing this to the table.

 

[Jim]

I guess I can't relate fully. I have yet to reach a point where I feel overly persuaded, let alone pressured, by arguments here. I see a lot of rhetoric sometimes, but I don't see near the toxic propaganda I experience just from reading Reddit and watching YouTube.

I think that sometimes people are intimidated into repressing or changing their views, by seeing other people being stigmatized for those views. I thought a discussion about it might help keep it from happening to some people.

 

[paarsurrey]

1. Know your stuff - read, research, etc.
2. Don't forget the fall back, easy escape: "Let's agree to disagree".
3. Don't swear and type in caps lock, it makes you look like an incoherent loon.

Good points.

Regards

 

[BSM1]

Some other things to blame too:

-Lack of sleep
-Politicians
-Wife got on and made my post

I know this has absolutely nothing to do with subject, but your post reminded me of something I saw on one of those "Gotcha" shows a couple of years back. A wife was thinking that her husband was cheating on her so she got this show to invite them on to discuss it. The night before, the husband was alone in the limo (don't remember why) and the show had hired a beautiful actress to act like an escort to ride with the guy, Of course, they had hidden cameras all over the car and the husband acted as expected. He trash talked the lady, put moves on her, and even kissed her once. The husband sat quietly while Murray (I think) played the video for the whole world to see. When the vid was finished, Murray asked the husband what he had to say for himself. With batting an eye or missing a beat the husband said, "That's not me..." I thought to myself, good or bad, that's chutzpah to be admired.

 

[paarsurrey]

My first thought is what I’ve discussed before, being fooled and intimidated by others calling your views “unscientific” and “unsupported by evidence,” and their views “science,” “scientific” or “what science says”; demanding evidence for your views; accusing you personally of being “unscientific” and “against science”; and various other ways of using the name, reputation and language of science to stigmatize you for what you believe or don’t believe.

What I’ve learned above all was not to fall into the trap of doing the same thing, myself. It’s like, trying to fight against the dark side can pull you over to it. Or like Sargeras in World of Warcraft going mad and turning against the other Titans, from trying to fight against the demons. I never call my views “science,” “scientific” or “what science says,” and I never call my reasons for my ways of thinking “evidence.”

Part of what I’ve done to avoid being fooled or intimidated by that was to do some investigation into what, precisely, people mean when they call some views “scientific” and others “unscientific,” and what people mean when they call their reasons for thinking what they do “evidence.” Another way has been to do my own research on whatever science people say that I’m denying.

Friend @Jim

One's post merits appreciation.
Regards