CDZ What is the Value of Having a Debate with Disingenuous Posters?

[Freewill]

In 90 percent of the cases, if the poster's avatar features a clown, in any way, you might as well call yourself an ahole and move on. Nothing of value will be found.

Oh, my. I suppose it's a good thing I went with my watch avatar rather than the Micky Mouse one of which I'm quite fond. Perhaps the timepiece makes my comments see more sincere?

Apparently it doesn't make a difference, that for proving me wrong.

 

[jwoodie]

No one is on my ignore list.

I am up to 79, and the quality of discourse has improved accordingly.

 

[anotherlife]

No one is on my ignore list.

I am up to 79, and the quality of discourse has improved accordingly.

Are there up to 79 active posters at this forum?

 

[Arianrhod]

No one is on my ignore list.

I am up to 79, and the quality of discourse has improved accordingly.

It's rare IRL to find a group that agrees with you entirely, so it must be of value to you to have created one online.

The problem with putting anyone on Ignore (much less x79) is that you automatically set yourself up as a strawman for the use of those you're ignoring, which makes the general discourse that much more informative and amusing at the same time.

For example, you can't see this post, but others can.

 

[anotherlife]

No one is on my ignore list.

I am up to 79, and the quality of discourse has improved accordingly.

It's rare IRL to find a group that agrees with you entirely, so it must be of value to you to have created one online.

The problem with putting anyone on Ignore (much less x79) is that you automatically set yourself up as a strawman for the use of those you're ignoring, which makes the general discourse that much more informative and amusing at the same time.

For example, you can't see this post, but others can.

Correction, I have just checked, I have one poster on ignore, for his zombie avatar. Disgusting.

 

[320 Years of History]

It's rare IRL to find a group that agrees with you entirely, so it must be of value to you to have created one online.

The problem with putting anyone on Ignore (much less x79) is that you automatically set yourself up as a strawman for the use of those you're ignoring, which makes the general discourse that much more informative and amusing at the same time.

For example, you can't see this post, but others can.

True enough. But in my real life, when I dismiss someone, they stay dismissed. And when I bid they not darken my doorstep or approach me, they honor my request, and if they don't I have means to ensure they do or suffer consequences if they do not. On the WWW, people seem unwilling to regard the constructs of common courtesy they otherwise would in person.

So, on the Internet, "ignore" is a very useful tool that one may use for the sake of one's own as well as others' well being. Personally, I "ignore" people who show themselves as willfully ignorant, incredibly stupid, being a minor or similarly comported, or being routinely vulgar, rude aspersive, and/or personally insulting, or those suffused with a combination of those traits. Merely disagreeing with or challenging my thoughts isn't cause for me to ignore an Internet persona. That notwithstanding, I haven't 79 people on my ignore list. LOL

 

[jwoodie]

No one is on my ignore list.

I am up to 79, and the quality of discourse has improved accordingly.

Are there up to 79 active posters at this forum?

Now 80, but I'm sure there are many duplicates due to name changes.

 

[Arianrhod]

It's rare IRL to find a group that agrees with you entirely, so it must be of value to you to have created one online.

The problem with putting anyone on Ignore (much less x79) is that you automatically set yourself up as a strawman for the use of those you're ignoring, which makes the general discourse that much more informative and amusing at the same time.

For example, you can't see this post, but others can.

True enough. But in my real life, when I dismiss someone, they stay dismissed. And when I bid they not darken my doorstep or approach me, they honor my request, and if they don't I have means to ensure they do or suffer consequences if they do not. On the WWW, people seem unwilling to regard the constructs of common courtesy they otherwise would in person.

So, on the Internet, "ignore" is a very useful tool that one may use for the sake of one's own as well as others' well being. Personally, I "ignore" people who show themselves as willfully ignorant, incredibly stupid, being a minor or similarly comported, or being routinely vulgar, rude aspersive, and/or personally insulting, or those suffused with a combination of those traits. Merely disagreeing with or challenging my thoughts isn't cause for me to ignore an Internet persona. That notwithstanding, I haven't 79 people on my ignore list. LOL

This post made me review my attitude toward people and, with the rare exception of a friend and a family member who each went out of their way to outright lie about me (to the extent that other people contacted me and said "So-and-so said such-and-such about you and I hung up on them"), I can't think of another instance IRL where I cut people out of my life.

Maybe I'm just too mellow.

But the frequency with which some posters announce [Ignore] is laughable.

Dude, seriously? You felt obligated to announce that? Was it your perception that it made you some Big Damn Hero? Really?

I never put anyone on Ignore. Some posts are not worth reading, but it's easy enough to just scroll past them.

Guess I'm not as scared of mere words as some people here.

 

[320 Years of History]

This post made me review my attitude toward people and, with the rare exception of a friend and a family member who each went out of their way to outright lie about me (to the extent that other people contacted me and said "So-and-so said such-and-such about you and I hung up on them"), I can't think of another instance IRL where I cut people out of my life.

Maybe I'm just too mellow.

But the frequency with which some posters announce [Ignore] is laughable.

Dude, seriously? You felt obligated to announce that? Was it your perception that it made you some Big Damn Hero? Really?

I never put anyone on Ignore. Some posts are not worth reading, but it's easy enough to just scroll past them.

Guess I'm not as scared of mere words as some people here.

Few and far between are the occasions whereby I feel compelled to take that drastic course of action IRL. Perhaps that's because my interpersonal interactions occur absent the sophomoric and sophistic "crap" that too often appears on WWW forums.

The "ignore" feature is the one thing that keeps my "keyboard" in check and that allows me to maintain a modicum of regard for the acumen of the "common man," as it were. On Internet forums, in sharp contrast with my real life interactions, I often find myself wanting to quote William F. Buckley's statement: "I won't insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said." It is out of nothing but respect for the fact that I'm not having a face-to-face conversation that I don't.

I don't know why it is that in person people routinely offer and engage me with well developed ideas, but they do and I don't generally encounter puerile and/or largely pathos-driven arguments. For some reason it seems that, upon logging onto a forum, a lot of people "check at the door" their brains and the argumentative skills they've learned. I wish I knew why, but I don't.

 

[PredFan]

I am referring to individuals who contribute nothing other than personal insults and attempts to sabotage a particular topic through irrelevant and/or deceitful postings. The latter can be identified by their refusal to cite factual authority and ignoring requests for clarification of their bogus assertions.

I have found that the value of discussions on this board is enhanced by Ignoring these people rather than engaging them as if they were serious participants in the discussion. At the very least, their postings only deserve a "funny" rating with no further encouragement.

There is no value in it. That is why I only do it if I'm bored. Otherwise I just point at them and laugh, or as is becoming more often the case, I point out their stupidity.

I have no fear at all that people will put me on ignore. I am perfectly fine with it because as you stated so well, there is no good reason to argue with them.

 

[Arianrhod]

To 320 Years of History:

It's the anonymity. Because whatever they post won't affect their jobs/careers or their interpersonal relationships with the people they interact with in person, they believe that what they post "doesn't count" - at least against them, in a negative sense.

That so many of them profess to be religious is the real mystery. I've often asked them, "Do you believe Jesus doesn't read the Internet?" The response, not suprisingly, is an intensification of the venom, which leads me to the conclusion that they think they're getting away with something.