Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

[Deset Gled]

If there isn't a mysterious wind blowing his coat or a rubix cube I'm going to be sad Nicolas Cage As Spider-Man Noir Starts Shooting And We Can't Believe The Photos Are Real

This might be worthy of it's own thread. But my real concern here is Nic's age. I can get behind the idea that this Spider Man isn't a teenager, but Cage is in his 60s.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Thought for the day-

If you announce that anyone who disagrees with your position is lying or disingenuous, you should not be surprised if people aren't very interested in having a discussion with you.

This is why I just say that people who disagree with me are wrong. And they can just stew in their wrongness....

I know you're mostly just making a joke, but if, to one degree or another, you don't think the latter is true (the first sentence), what are you even arguing about?

(I know, sometimes people don't think other people are right loudly enough, but that's arguably a degenerate case).

 

[Thomas Shey]

I immediately thought of that scene myself.

 

[Deset Gled]

I know you're mostly just making a joke, but if, to one degree or another, you don't think the latter is true (the first sentence), what are you even arguing about?

(I know, sometimes people don't think other people are right loudly enough, but that's arguably a degenerate case).

People can just be wrong without being disingenuous. I know because I've been wrong before (I didn't like it, but I got better).

 

[Umbran]

If you announce that anyone who disagrees with your position is lying or disingenuous, you should not be surprised if people aren't very interested in having a discussion with you.

We can add - stupid, ignorant, smelly, or otherwise have personal flaws or are engaged in activities with negative ethical or emotional valance.

And - They will not be interested in having a discussion with you. They may be interested in finishing the fight you just started by being rude.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I know you're mostly just making a joke, but if, to one degree or another, you don't think the latter is true (the first sentence), what are you even arguing about?

(I know, sometimes people don't think other people are right loudly enough, but that's arguably a degenerate case).

Joking aside, I think that people confuse and conflate arguing with discussing.

I think that the structure of internet forums tends to lead to argument. And don't get me wrong- I am not a saint, and can get as argumentative as the next mook.

But generally, I think discussions, where the purpose is to talk, learn, and have a good time? That's why I am here. I get my fill of arguments every Thanksgiving, thank you.

 

[payn]

Joking aside, I think that people confuse and conflate arguing with discussing.

I think that the structure of internet forums tends to lead to argument. And don't get me wrong- I am not a saint, and can get as argumentative as the next mook.

But generally, I think discussions, where the purpose is to talk, learn, and have a good time? That's why I am here. I get my fill of arguments every Thanksgiving, thank you.

I had a great course on negotiation back in college. One of the best things I read was a very short paper back on "getting to yes". The author talked about people getting stuck on positions instead of discussing interests. It was pretty eye opening and changed the way I approach discussions to this day.

 

[Ryujin]

Joking aside, I think that people confuse and conflate arguing with discussing.

I think that the structure of internet forums tends to lead to argument. And don't get me wrong- I am not a saint, and can get as argumentative as the next mook.

But generally, I think discussions, where the purpose is to talk, learn, and have a good time? That's why I am here. I get my fill of arguments every Thanksgiving, thank you.

Thankfully, we can't have the Thanksgiving arguments here.

 

[Umbran]

I think that the structure of internet forums tends to lead to argument.

I'd like to hear you expound on that.

I tend to think of it being more about the mode of communication (it being text-based, and not with people you interact with outside the virtual forum), rather than how it is structured, but I'm interested in hearing other thoughts as well.

 

[Meech17]

I'd like to hear you expound on that.

I tend to think of it being more about the mode of communication (it being text-based, and not with people you interact with outside the virtual forum), rather than how it is structured, but I'm interested in hearing other thoughts as well.

Online text based chat does seem to encourage arguments.

I think you're probably correct here. Text based chat lacks tone that allows you to convey emotion or certain feelings. It's hard to express things like sarcasm over text, for instance. It can turn what might be a harmless quip in regular conversation, into down right fightin' words if read the wrong way.

With the virtual nature of it.. I'm not sure. The anonymous nature of the internet probably gives a lot of people the courage to say things they probably wouldn't say to someone face to face.

The one thing about forums though, is it does tend to feel like a smaller space. There's less of a feeling of "We're all strangers here" that you get on other areas of the web, like Reddit, or X.

I've been posting here about a year. ENWorld has probably thousands of members, but I have gotten to the point where I recognize two... maybe three dozen of you by your avatars, usernames, and even the way you chat. While I don't know if this makes this a small community, it makes it kind of feel like one, and I think a lot of forums have similar vibes. This can probably lead to some bad habits. For instance, if there's one particular user you feel like is a bad actor, or maybe you've have a bad experience with them in the past, you're likely to be less charitable with them in the future due to that pre-existing bias and maybe more prone to argue.