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You don't have to engage with people on the Internet

xeiaso.net

131–140 of 226 posts

Re: You don't have to engage with people on the Internet

#131
post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Never debate stupid. Bystanders will not distinguish between your salient words and your own. They’ll just see two seemingly educated people arguing and assume their points are equally valid.“ People respond most often and vehemently to what they disagree with on the internet. It’s a guttural response and not grounded in level headed thinking.

> “Never debate stupid. Bystanders will not distinguish between your salient words and your own. They’ll just see two seemingly educated people arguing and assume their points are equally valid.“ This is foolish because if you just let things stand, then they see only one seemingly educated person making an equally valid point, rather than two, which is worse. Like in this example right now, I could have let your poi…

This is incorrect.

Re: You don't have to engage with people on the Internet

#132
post #114
post #54

Eh, I tried to take that view but then I started hearing those wrong pithy responses reflected back at me via my real life friends, which showed that their campaign worked. Now I don't argue to try to change the person's mind, but rather to plant the seed of critical thinking that may help an onlooker find the truth.

“Never debate stupid. Bystanders will not distinguish between your salient words and your own. They’ll just see two seemingly educated people arguing and assume their points are equally valid.“ People respond most often and vehemently to what they disagree with on the internet. It’s a guttural response and not grounded in level headed thinking.

The 2016 elections were basically contests between “dont feed the trolls” and “only volume matters, feel free to be shitty and unhinged as long as you’re vocal.” Tragically but understandably, all sides have copied the winning strategy.

Re: You don't have to engage with people on the Internet

#133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like that joke but I guess it only makes sense written? Or how do you say it? "Ten"? Thinking about it, "there are ten types of people" might be even funnier.

"one zero"

"One zero", by definition, is 'zero'.

Re: You don't have to engage with people on the Internet

#134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there can be value in making an argument specifically in bettering your own understanding of a point If you want someone to educate you, the polite thing to do is ask . This kind of "stealth learning" where you say things you don't believe, expecting to learn via corrections, is inconsiderate and inefficient. I know people who have lost practically all of their friends because they couldn't bring themselves to ackn…

How do you know you are wrong until someone convinces you?

I’m guessing the frequency with which people are both wrong and convinced so by a random internet person is rather low.

Re: You don't have to engage with people on the Internet

#136

[flagged]

It's less so for those who were exposed to this early in life.

I had a great conversation about this the other day with a Swiss person in poverty who was upset about Ukrainian refugees driving expensive cars - sometimes people have features that may appear contradictory to you.

In any case they do seem to address a certain subset of people - I for one stopped taking any stance on my employer years ago, because why would I?

Re: You don't have to engage with people on the Internet

#137
post #114
post #54

Eh, I tried to take that view but then I started hearing those wrong pithy responses reflected back at me via my real life friends, which showed that their campaign worked. Now I don't argue to try to change the person's mind, but rather to plant the seed of critical thinking that may help an onlooker find the truth.

“Never debate stupid. Bystanders will not distinguish between your salient words and your own. They’ll just see two seemingly educated people arguing and assume their points are equally valid.“ People respond most often and vehemently to what they disagree with on the internet. It’s a guttural response and not grounded in level headed thinking.

That view gives very little credit to bystanders. If people really are unable to see multiple arguments and choose the smarter, we may as well put a cross over democracy, because elections hinge on them doing exactly that.

Re: You don't have to engage with people on the Internet

#138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"one zero"

"One zero", by definition, is 'zero'.

That depends. In math, you can say a function f(x) has “one zero” if there exists some element z in the relevant domain such that f(x) = 0 iff x = z. Since z is arbitrary, you can even have the value of z be nonzero. So, “a zero,” in fact, need not actually be 0, and, one can speak of “the zeros of f, so there may be more than “one zero,” none of which are actually 0.

Re: You don't have to engage with people on the Internet

#139
post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> exhibiting your own knowledge, you’re looking for validation, or want to demonstrate your own superior morals. Speak for yourself please. On most forums nobody is going to praise another for their knowledge. Additionally most people are anonymous.

All popular internet discussion places are built on likes, upvotes, and other superfluous praise signals.

Yes, if the internet of today is about anything, it's about people getting praise for something.

Re: You don't have to engage with people on the Internet

#140
I think some of this boils down to people who are lonely and want some form of connection. -And, there be a good percentage of people in tech, especially in 'visionary' companies that feel some for of identity fusion between they life they spend in their startups and the product the produced. It's unhealthy.
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