It's hard to avoid arguing

[JoeGKushner]

Some of the threads I've seen lately get so derailed by people arguing the same points over and over again.

And I know the mods have told me a time or two to tone it down a notch.

It's hard to avoid arguing isn't it?

It's hard to avoid hitting the old reply button.

But man, I'm trying harder and harder lately. It's just not worth it. No one ever goes, "Man, that's an awesome point. I've completely changed my mind. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction."

How about other people? Giving up on the arguements or keeping the "good fight" going?

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Mustrum Ridcully - fighting the good fight since January 2002.

I am trying to stop, and sometimes I think I get better. But sometimes I think not replying ain't enough. Not reading is also required, because whenever I see something that I just don't agree with and that seems to conflate opinion with fact, I want to "correct" the statement. Maybe the poster itself can't be helped, but I don't want other people to get the same idea!

But do I really have to care that much?

 

[Papa-DRB]

If you folks want to argue, fine, but keep it out of all the other threads. In this one "Elephant in the room/thread Forked Thread: Pathfinder - sell me", I was interested in some of the view points and even contributed myself, but then the:

xxx suxs, no it doesn't, yes it does... GMAFB. I am tired of the thread pollution.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I usually nowadays just avoid threads that have devolved into arguments. With at the most making a post just stating my view in a neutral manner, of the main debate, without trying to ride anyone (usually gets lost in all the arguing though).

Occasionally I do jump into arguing, but try to keep that to a minimum as possible.

 

[drothgery]

How about other people? Giving up on the arguements or keeping the "good fight" going?

If you find that you're always arguing with the same one or two people, you might add them to your ignore list. There are only two people on mine, but since an argument with one of them got me the only warning from the mods I've picked up here ever (and I've been around here since Eric was running things), I think it was definitely a good idea.

 

[alleynbard]

I really try not to argue. I am often pretty good at it, but sometimes I fail. There have been a few times where I typed out a response and then found myself erasing it all and not posting. Perhaps all I needed was to vent? I don't know. But I am usually happier that I gained control over my inclination to fight. Fighting back seems to be something inherent in my family line.

Generally, I was making a habit of ignoring certain kinds of posts. Then I finally figured out how the ignore function works and now my mind is at ease. It creates holes in discussions but I am okay with that. The only issue is I can still read the quoted statements of those I ignore. But I have now developed the habit of glossing over those posts. Does wonders for my blood pressure.

 

[Nymrohd]

I often will start a reply at this forums and elsewhere to decide midway that it is either not worth my time or trouble or simply pointless. Many people don't. The internet and the anonymity it affords oft function as a lense to human arrogance and idiocy (if there really is a difference between the two).

And yeah ignore lists are useful. Though it depends on the forum. Here I have noone in my ignore list technically, but there are a couple of people that I simply will never reply to however much I might like to. Still ignoring them might make some threads unreadable and one at least often has some useful information to provide (alongside a good dose of bile).

 

[Filcher]

I've been actively working not to argue. But there is a part of me that wonders if it isn't a self-regulating mechanism (including, unfortunately, the inevitable lockdowns).

For instance, let's say your favorite game is about unicorns. 1/2 of ENworld loves it, but has agreed not to argue. The other 1/2 hates Unicornicon, and has no qualms about saying so in every thread.

Once a week you post something about how you love Unicornicon, and I come in an act like a jerk. You don't argue with me. By the end of the year it will appear that ENworld hates Unicornicon, and all my posted edicts against the game appear as unprotested truths.

Maybe? I dunno. But that's what fires me up to argue, and it is what I'm trying to get away from.

 

[Cadfan]

I've updated my ignore list again, and find that I get into fewer arguments now.

Its an invaluable feature. I only wish that it wasn't buried in the user preferences. It used to be part of the drop down menu under to people's screen names.

There are some people on this forum who are genuine kooks and flat out trolls. The forum rules do not actually prohibit trolling so long as you do so in a particular manner, and they're very good at it. Blocking them is the only thing you can do.

Unfortunately this means that a fair percentage of the threads in the general forum are incomprehensible to me, what with all of the deleted posts.

 

[Agamon]

I just state my own opinion and let others have their own opinions. Whether I believe those opinions are misguided doesn't really matter, no one's mind is going to be changed here, as has been proven endlessly already.