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Aristotle, “On Trolling”

journals.cambridge.org

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Re: Aristotle, “On Trolling”

#41

Post by tremon »

labster wrote: post #14

for there is no art in what they do. I couldn't disagree more. There is common trolling and there is sublime trolling. The ability to sow the perfect amount of strife to create real change is a thing of beauty. This goes beyond the tactics of information warfare -- for which trolling has its uses -- and reveals truth to those in ignorance. For most true knowledge cannot be learned by the advice of elders alone, but m…

The ability to sow the perfect amount of strife to create real change is a thing of beauty

But if the goal is to effect change, then it is (arguably) not a troll:

And the community has some good in common, and this the troll must know, and what things promote and destroy it: for he seeks to destroy

Re: Aristotle, “On Trolling”

#43

Post by mark_chosenberg »

tremon wrote: post #42
mark_chosenberg wrote: post #35

Speaking of trolls and Ancient Greece philosophers... When you troll your community so bad they sentence you to death by drinking hemlock.

Socrates is mentioned in the article, as an example of not-a-troll.

Mentioned as not being a troll for "telling the truth"...

Right, because "truth" is a completely not subjective concept.

Aka: "it's only trolling when I disagree with the opinions being expressed"

Re: Aristotle, “On Trolling”

#44

Post by tremon »

mark_chosenberg wrote: post #43
tremon wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Socrates is mentioned in the article, as an example of not-a-troll.

Mentioned as not being a troll for "telling the truth"... Right, because "truth" is a completely not subjective concept. Aka: "it's only trolling when I disagree with the opinions being expressed"

it belongs not to the serious person to be a troll but to the one who lacks education

Re: Aristotle, “On Trolling”

#45

Post by nailer »

sdegutis wrote: post #5

Fwiw, "proper" trolling can be an art form. Done well, it can be a beautiful form of entertainment. Ken M's best (authentic) comments are a great example of this.

Indeed. The first paragraph:

> That trolling is a shameful thing, and that no one of sense would accept to be called ‘troll’, all are agreed

No they are not. There are many smart, funny trolls who are quite happy to accept the label. I can understand the media getting confused between actual creative trolling and being particularly mean, but I'd expect more out of an academic publication.

Re: Aristotle, “On Trolling”

#46

Post by pYQAJ6Zm »

tomc1985 wrote: post #26

Noone else noticed the slight dissonance of reading something like this on an academic journal? Knowing nothing of the context here, it certainly sounds like an interesting story

I find it refreshing that there is a place for humor in otherwise “dry” contexts, such as academic journals. After all, the joke is obvious to the intended audience, or at least ought to be, and gets published for its own sake.

Re: Aristotle, “On Trolling”

#49

Post by sevensor »

ionwake wrote: post #48

Please excuse my ignorance, but can someone tell me where in that article Aristotle comes into play? I did not see any attributed quotes, unless I missed one? Thank you

This is very much in the style of Aristotle's writings. The parenthesized Greek words appear as if placed there by a translator who had to reach for an approximate word in English and wanted to be precise about the meaning of the original.
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