How to cowboy up

[warpspeedpetey]

i have noticed lately, a strange argument being made by a few of the posters on the board.

namely, that we cant have a rational discussion concerning metaphysics or ethics because it just devolves into name calling, etc, etc.

funny enough, these same posters seem to be the ones hurling insults! whats up with that?

frankly i suspect that this argument is little more than poor sportsmanship. an argument made to salvage wounded intellectual pride.

if one cannot make their argument, either because they lack evidence or rational arguments too back their position, then the fault must be that of the other posters.
its not their fault, or the fault of insupportable positions, rather, they make an argument equivalent to “theyre cheating”!

in my rural parlance, where stoicism in the face of adversity is a virtue, let me simply say, what many a foreman told me as a young man, get over it and

cowboy up.

anyother thoughts on the subject?

 

[pnewton]

if one cannot make their argument, either because they lack evidence or rational arguments too back their position, then the fault must be that of the other posters.
its not their fault, or the fault of insupportable positions, rather, they make an argument equivalent to “theyre cheating”!

That depends. What one person calls cheating might be pointing our a logic fallacy or a poor analogy.

I think those who say we can’t have a rational discussion without it devolving into name-calling are mistaken.

 

[warpspeedpetey]

That depends. What one person calls cheating might be pointing our a logic fallacy or a poor analogy.

I think those who say we can’t have a rational discussion without it devolving into name-calling are mistaken.

me too, i think it boils down to ego. if you cant make your case, the other guy must be at fault.

 

[Eucharisted]

Usually those who make insults on CAF - name calling and anti-Catholic remarks - are either (a) unable to argue, (b) just wanting to anger Catholics, or (c) trolling the forum. I should add that trolling isn’t simply spamming or flooding - there are many different kinds of trolls on the Internet. Just like it is necessary to be familiar with the various fallacies when in an argument, it is necessary to be familiar with the various kinds of trolls when on a forum, imageboard, online community, or website.

 

[warpspeedpetey]

Usually those who make insults on CAF - name calling and anti-Catholic remarks - are either (a) unable to argue, (b) just wanting to anger Catholics, or (c) trolling the forum. I should add that trolling isn’t simply spamming or flooding - there are many different kinds of trolls on the Internet. Just like it is necessary to be familiar with the various fallacies when in an argument, it is necessary to be familiar with the various kinds of trolls when on a forum, imageboard, online community, or website.

what does “troll” mean, the only socializing i do on the net is here, for the most part, ive seen the term a couple of times. but im not getting what it means.

 

[KJS]

Excerpt from Wikipedia entry on Troll (Internet)

An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum or chat room, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll - has a decent explanation of the term. My policy is not to feed the trolls and just ignore their comments.

 

[warpspeedpetey]

Excerpt from Wikipedia entry on Troll (Internet)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll - has a decent explanation of the term. My policy is not to feed the trolls and just ignore their comments.

ohhhhhhhhhh… those guys.

 

[JDaniel]

Usually those who make insults on CAF - name calling and anti-Catholic remarks - are either (a) unable to argue, (b) just wanting to anger Catholics, or (c) trolling the forum. I should add that trolling isn’t simply spamming or flooding - there are many different kinds of trolls on the Internet. Just like it is necessary to be familiar with the various fallacies when in an argument, it is necessary to be familiar with the various kinds of trolls when on a forum, imageboard, online community, or website.

You are dead-on. I call them seminar posters; you call them trolls. Their modus operandi is usually easily spotted, but, sometimes not - at least for a while. I don’t think the moderator would appreciate a full description of their MO in these fora, so we had better not get into it.

jd

 

[warpspeedpetey]

You are dead-on. I call them seminar posters; you call them trolls. Their modus operandi is usually easily spotted, but, sometimes not - at least for a while. I don’t think the moderator would appreciate a full description of their MO in these fora, so we had better not get into it.

jd

you say toe-may-toe, he says toe-ma-toe. i say intellectual pinatas

 

[cpayne]

My experience has been something like this:

Poster 1: Why do Catholics think such stupid things as -------?

Poster 2: Catholics don’t think------------this. They think ----------this.

Poster 1: But why do Catholics think this stupid thing-----------?

Poster 2: Look, Catholics don’t think that, as has already been explained.

(Other posters jump in to try to help. Skip ahead about twenty posts.)

Poster 1: So really all you’re saying is that Catholics think this stupid thing-------------?

Poster 2: NO! This is just plain wrong. Hasn’t this already been explained about a dozen times, in a half-dozen different ways?

Poster 1: Why are you all getting so angry and mean-spirited and hateful? This is always what happens when I try to have a rational, calm discussion with Catholics.

:nope:

 

[cpayne]

Wait, I forgot this:

Poster 1: This is always what happens when one tries to have a rational, calm discussion with people who are committed to follow their dogma blindly, and who don’t believe in using reason. They get hostile and start name-calling.

 

[pnewton]

I don’t think the moderator would appreciate a full description of their MO in these fora, so we had better not get into it.

jd

Now that’s funny.

 

[warpspeedpetey]

Wait, I forgot this:

Poster 1: This is always what happens when one tries to have a rational, calm discussion with people who are committed to follow their dogma blindly, and who don’t believe in using reason. They get hostile and start name-calling.

the poster ones’ typically think they are the only side to exercise rationalism. they are just absolutly sure that we arent thinking straight and are biased that they dont seem to realize the gaping holes in their arguments. i can think of fewr things that are less rational than that the universe just poofed into existence from nothing for no reason.

then, when you point out thats what they are really saying, they backpedal faster than than a guy on a unicycle going over a cliff.

then they starrt really trying to convince folks that there is something that can exist with no cause, and thats what caused us.

they just refuse to call it G-d