Teaching versus attacking

[Pandaren]

As I am sure all of you are aware, P&N often becomes very heated, with debates often degenerating into personal insults and flame wars.

I often find myself disagreeing with people in real life about many of the same topics: the war on terror, Israel/Palestine, taxation, abortion, and social programs. And sometimes I get offended. It irks me when people openly advocate carpet bombing other people in the middle east because "they are all terrorists." It irks me when people make the claim that America is a "Christian nation" and that therefore it is ok for the 10 Commandments to reside on a courthouse wall.

Part of me thinks that the better path is to offer reasonable arguments for changing foreign policy, and to offer good reasons why the Church and the State should not become intertwined.

Yet when my attempts to teach are ignored, the other half of me wants to curse the blindness of those upon whom my message is lost. I ask: what's the point? They've already decided -- there's nothing I can do. I also ask -- what if I can change one person's mind -- could that make a difference?

So I've attacked a lot of people here. I might have been attacked once or twice but frankly I never really cared. I don't think it was productive.

 

[yllus]

I'd pretty much implore you to be selfish in the reasons you visit P&N. I lazily come in here and read a few topics that catch my interest after they've accumulated a bunch of replies, so I can take a sneak peek at the partisan angles that'll be utilized in the mainstream press or around the watercooler. Finally, I shamelessly yank the arguments and facts of others to always appear ultra-aware of the political scene.

P&N does all the work, you get all of the benefit!

 

[sandorski]

I hear ya. That's just the way it goes sometimes. I find face to face discussion to be somewhat different than posting. People and myself seem somewhat more diplomatic about these discussions then. I even find myself throwing in points into the discussion in a real life discussion that I disagree with here, just for discussion. It's a difficult position to be in, because everyone values their opinion, but in Real Life conversation it is far easier to just accept that an opinion of someone else is set in stone then move the conversation onto something else.

I always find throwing the Weather or Sports Team segway in as if nothing else was said up to that point helps to defuse any potential anger/stress created up to that point. Usually elicits a laugh and a dropping of the subject.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: yllus
I'd pretty much implore you to be selfish in the reasons you visit P&N. I lazily come in here and read a few topics that catch my interest after they've accumulated a bunch of replies, so I can take a sneak peek at the partisan angles that'll be utilized in the mainstream press or around the watercooler. Finally, I shamelessly yank the arguments and facts of others to always appear ultra-aware of the political scene.

P&N does all the work, you get all of the benefit!

hehe

 

[JEDIYoda]

so how are the Jets doing?

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
so how are the Jets doing?

Too soon!

 

[Craig234]

It's a good point. I've asked myself, why participate? A few reasons:

- There's a certain citizenship element, however limited affecting, maybe, the opinons of a few people is.
- It helps you with your own views to write them out.
- There's a social element. It's nice to see other liberals, for example.
- Things you learn on occassion.

A bad reason:

- Those who like the conflict, the internet flaming.

 

[miketheidiot]

personally i am pretty viscous in rl debate, which is probably why i don't do it very often. I don't think twice about insulting someone such as in the op's example, who would get a viscous rebutal from me that would probably get me a ban here.

 

[Jhhnn]

I think that there are a lot of lurkers, people who read the forum, but don't necessarily contribute. They're the ones who can be educated, not those whose opinions are set in the cement of brand loyalty and simplistic emotional demagoguery.

So, yeh, it's important for arguments to make sense, and to encourage people to think for themselves, not just accept the soundbites on the tube as gospel, the voices on talk radio as somehow more authoritative than their own grey cells... and to get people to see that a variety of talking head types are paid to exploit them, rather than to inform them of anything... they're all selling something, from toothpaste to taxcuts for their cronies to pre-emptive war... and to understand that the best of them sell their services to the highest bidder, and that's not us, not middle America...

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Jhhnn
to encourage people to think for themselves,

not just accept the soundbites on the tube as gospel, the voices on talk radio as somehow more authoritative than their own grey cells...

and to get people to see that a variety of talking head types are paid to exploit them, rather than to inform them of anything...

BFT & QFT. :thumbsup: