The wild and wooly world of the Internet has provided the human race with a burgeoning treasury of knowledge and information, beamed directly to our computers faster than our minds can process it. It is important to remember, in this fast-paced digital age, that no amount of facts, critical thinking or indisputable evidence should ever get in the way of winning an argument.
Certain aspects of debate – such as not knowing what one is talking about, arguing more from emotion than logic, and/or simply making things up out of thin air – form the rock-solid foundation of making an unassailable point, and should not be forgotten in the advent of technology that provides for immediate fact checking
It is thus in the spirit of public service that we now present to you, our reader, the finer points of winning an argument online, or, as we like to call it, TROLL SCHOOL.
Lesson One: Semantics.
The reason, intelligence, and wealth of facts any enemy poster may have will be completely undone with the use of semantics.
It doesn't matter if said opponent is a constitutional scholar with a PhD. in history, one single word will undo them. For example:
"America is a democracy".
This falsehood is ripe for the pickings with the response:
"WRONG, d_ _ _kface! America is a republic!"
The fact that the enemy poster never implied that the US is a commonwealth, a giant state, a kingdom, et al notwithstanding - he's a total commie, and he just demonstrated it.
Join us under the bridge next Sunday for a new lesson. Until then, keep on trollin'!
Interesting thoughts. Fascinating how information is more readily available, but more questionable in its credibility. The problem with the scholars is they study things, rather than live it. That being said, first person accounts can not help but be somewhat biased.
ReplyDelete....merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream!