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[–]LarrySwinger2 5 insightful - 3 fun5 insightful - 2 fun6 insightful - 3 fun -  (14 children)

How do you blacklist someone here?

[–][deleted] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (13 children)

iirc /u/magnora7 is working on a mute user feature, but I don't see it - so it must not be ready for prime time yet.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (12 children)

Hopefully he hurries up. The racist propaganda team is already trying to invade with their own "wokeness" and it's beyond irritating.

[–]Jac0b777 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (11 children)

Silencing people you disagree with is not as helpful to make a place like this into a good area for discussion, challenging their viewpoints is far more effective. The only way a culture of hatred (which includes racism) can be dissolved is by challenging the underlying beliefs and motivations for their grievances and dissolving the unfounded assumptions underneath them.

[–][deleted] 6 insightful - 2 fun6 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 2 fun -  (10 children)

You don't know me. I've "debated" with these people for many years on many platforms. Not a single one has ever changed their mind. I, personally, no longer want to see nor hear their propaganda, because I've more than grown tired of debunking it. That is why I want a mute feature. If you have the energy for it, more power to you, but I'm beyond sick of political extremists on the internet. Way beyond.

[–]Chipit 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

Maybe you just suck at arguing?

When your assumption is going in to the argument that you're morally superior and everyone else is morally wrong, that leads to a lot of really bad arguments.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

When I bother to argue I use facts, reasoning, and data. In my experience nobody else did, except slanted as bad as creationists or flat earthers. Cherrypicking studies they've never actually read. So when I read them, and more, and proceeded to thoroughly debunk correlational nonsense like Putnam's "bowling alone", nobody ever changed their minds. Ideological extremists don't care about facts. They have conclusions they work toward and use "facts" as ammunition to bolster those conclusions. Same thing communists do, same thing creationists do, same thing feminists do.

So maybe, just maybe, a certain kind of person is just a shit human being? Crazy idea, I know.

[–]Chipit 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

And yet you cited no evidence or facts.

Correlational nonsense like "Bowling Alone"? That was an oddly specific reference. Why do I get the distinct impression that you aren't amenable to contrary opinion and you frequently confuse your opinions with facts?

The dead giveaway was calling people who disagree with you "shit human beings". This is dehumanizing. You don't just disagree with people, you think they're evil.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

You asked me about my experience, pejoratively, by implying I simply suck. When I offer an example of misused research, and indicate I have further experience in broader arguments with other kinds of extremists, you continue insulting me. What's the new saying these days? Oh, right: "You get what you fucking deserve". The best part is when I specifically state some people are just shit human beings, you assume I must just be applying this label broadly to all people I disagree with. If you think you're embodying some principle of charity in discourse, hahaha, oh man, you're lost.

[–]Chipit 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

So where's your evidence?

You called other people shit human beings. That's dehumanizing. Surely one skilled at arguments knows where dehumanization leads.

And if you do know, why are you doing it? You're just as bad as those you hate.

All of this makes me think you suck at arguing and persuasion. That's why nobody ever came around to your point of view.

[–]Jac0b777 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I understand and get you.

However I'd just like to point out that a big point in giving counter arguments on the Internet is not always to change the mind of the person you're talking to, but also to impact the mind of those bystanders reading the conversation.

Not to mention that you can always simply copy and paste good counter arguments to multiple conversations, saving you time and effort.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Think of it like free labor. Who am I fighting for? And what is my benefit? Unless it's my own intellectual curiosity, and with extremists that faded years ago, I've never so much as received a thank you for steering someone away from a set of bad ideas. Most people, most of the time, are motivated by things other than reasoning and will not really be persuaded without severe motivation shifts. These are not brought about by internet arguments, but by real-world situations, circumstances, threats, or social consequences.

The fact is I do not believe reason actually does anything anymore. What's more, I do not benefit from the effort. On the contrary, I waste my time and suffer from it. If society wanted my opinion, rhetoric, research, whatever, it can fucking pay me for it. Otherwise I do a lot better doing literally anything else. So would most people, once their intellectual curiosity is satisfied. Once a thing becomes boring, there's no use to you to proceed without additional reward.

"Side? I am on nobody's side, because nobody is on my side."

[–]Jac0b777 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

OK, I understand - if you feel that these arguments (or debates) are causing you to suffer, then by all means avoid them. I feel that the expression of peaceful rhetoric designed to combat hate and fear can be a joy unto itself - by perhaps alleviating the collective pain that little bit by sharing your perspective.

But indeed that in itself has to come from a place where you find it enjoyable and stimulative (as in the joy inherent in being altruistic) - and if you don't then it is always preferable to not engage.