Hopefully temporarily, but got tired of deleting nonsense after the fact. The upside is that anonymous comments are enabled for those who don't feel like logging in.
-- Badtux the Spammed Penguin
1 day ago
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
6 comments:
Ground rules: Comments that consist solely of insults, fact-free talking points, are off-topic, or simply spam the same argument over and over will be deleted. The penguin is the only one allowed to be an ass here. All viewpoints, however, are welcomed, even if I disagree vehemently with you.
WARNING: You are entitled to create your own arguments, but you are NOT entitled to create your own facts. If you spew scientific denialism, or insist that the sky is purple, or otherwise insist that your made-up universe of pink unicorns and cotton candy trees is "real", well -- expect the banhammer.
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It's hard to understand why some a-holes persistently go on websites to argue pedantically against the basic intellectual premises of the person(s) who own the blog.
ReplyDeleteDo they think they're going to change the blog owner's mind by the brilliance of their arguments? If you asked them "Do you think YOUR mind could be changed?" they'd say "No way."
So I read people I mostly agree with like you, Tux. I DO learn stuff from you, especially from following links. You and other bloggers I follow are like extra pairs of eyes who see things I wouldn't notice otherwise. You're still seeing things I believe in anyway, though, because I've pre-selected you as one of the like-minded.
I've come to the conclusion that nobody changes their mind about nothin'. Especially opinionated ones on teh Internets tubez. Everybody, including me, wants to believe they're a fookin' genius. To change your mind is to admit you were wrong, and no genius wants that. So unless you're able to catch someone in an obscure area where they have a knowledge vacuum -- like things having to do with New Zealand, for example -- there's no point in offering info.
That's why I don't bother to yammer on blogs whose viewpoints I disagree with. I read those blogs sometimes, which is why I'm fond of Zerohedge and its dickwad libertarian commenters. (ZH also has posts containing ahead-of-the-curve financial information.) The counter-to-my-opinion posts/comments expose me to different ways of thinking. Usually they reinforce my existing opinions, because I'm forced to think of counter-arguments inside my head. But I'd never bother to join the debate. Pointless. Waste of keystrokes.
Instead of debating with someone whose mind I'll never change, I prefer to spew abuse at them. Doesn't do much for altering their viewpoints but it makes me feel better.
When you get down to the core motivation of blogging, and especially commenting, I think that's what it's all about -- stroking our own egos, intellectual gratification. "Hey, look at me! Aren't I smart?!?"
Having hereby proved my brilliance in yet another small way, I shall go back to what I was doing, which is wasting time on the computer during the three-hour break we get during our 12-hour overnight shifts on the psych ward. I love this job. Unfortunately, it's probably too good to last under the current conditions, but I shall enjoy it as long as possible before they change the rules to make it harder for us.
You should explain something of government finance to really get the satisfaction of filtering out the stupid, and the destructive lies.
ReplyDeleteBukko, I'm happy when people bring to me things that I hadn't thought of,or bring new facts to my attention, even if said facts contradict my beliefs. The problem I've had is comments that consist solely of insults, fact-free talking points, or stupidity. By "stupidity" I mean things like inane Nazi comparisons, re-defining words that have an actual meaning to mean what they want them to mean instead of what they've meant for the past hundred years, and so forth. If you're going to bring something to this blog, bring actual sourceable facts. You'll note that I didn't swat the guy who brought the Roman Empire stuff here, because he did bring his source with him also. His source was a neo-classical economist making tired arguments from the 19th century that modern historians have pretty much repudiated, but he did bring a source. But if you're going to show up and insist that Hitler was a socialist even though he did nothing socialist like nationalize industry or give out welfare benefits or support labor unions because, uhm, because he contracted with businesses to buy weapons, uhm... every government for the past 200 years at least has contracted with businesses to buy weapons. It's one of those "the stoopid, it burns, it burns!" things that basically says "enough, already." Ban-hammer on.
ReplyDelete- Badtux the Reality-based Penguin
"But if you're going to show up and insist that Hitler was a socialist" My guess Mr.Penguin, is that association probably comes from those who ascribe the Hegelian elements of ideological fascism to a form of ideal state socialism. This is probably more true of Italian fascism than Nazi paradigms and most specifically corporate constructs. Further, I think the Penguin is most compassionate to trolls, for whom 'mind' is indistinguishable from advertising, at least Guy Deborg thinks so. Ouch, I just gave my self a headache. peace, m
ReplyDeleteI like the anonymous comments because I can't be bothered to log in anywhere.
ReplyDelete@Bukko I don't think people write those comments because they are trying to change the blog post author's mind. I know that sometimes I go to conservative blogs and argue with people in the comments because it makes my own arguments better. Those guys will find a hole in an argument quicker than a rabbit being chased by a bear. :) [Everyone once in a while, they'll even make a good point and change my mind]
@tux I just want to say that I am a longtime if occasional reader and a big fan. Keep it up.
I've come to the conclusion that nobody changes their mind about nothin'.
ReplyDeleteI recently changed my mind about the "just print more money!" solution for our economic mess...partly due to things Badtux has said.
In order to keep your premise true, should I change it back? :P