/ wrists
In posting a response in a thread regarding a GRRM political rant, i forgot a main point of internet argument as well as political argument: there is no point.
Maybe there was a time when the free exchange of idea and ideals would fly back and forth and people learned from one another (though I think that's more of a utopian dream of foggy 20/20 than any sort of past reality), but that time (if it did exist) is over.
This is an especially difficult thing for me to take. Aside from a very few core beliefs (i believe the word "freedom" sums them up), I go out of my way to keep an open mind and hear another point of view. I try to listen.
And I get insulted.
I can hear a dissenting opinion, even one that's rooted in emotion and completely unlikely to change, if it is delivered in an intellectual, effective manner. My mind has been swayed by many such passionately held arguments.
But on the interweb, there is no accountability. You don't have to look someone else in the face, you don't have to deliver an insult within hearing range. It's like a firing range for cowards, braggards, and fools. There is no intelligent debate, only a contest to see who can put down the other person better.
Don't get me wrong, I dig that kind of contest. I did, after all, cut my teeth on the grinding stone of Skippy's mammoth whit, which is no small task, and I enjoyed it, but not in the context of serious, passionate debate.
What is it about a keyboard that makes people act like children - apart from those who have every right to act that way (actual children?)? And the worst part is, I see it everywhere, and it's making everything... worse.
Maybe there was a time when the free exchange of idea and ideals would fly back and forth and people learned from one another (though I think that's more of a utopian dream of foggy 20/20 than any sort of past reality), but that time (if it did exist) is over.
This is an especially difficult thing for me to take. Aside from a very few core beliefs (i believe the word "freedom" sums them up), I go out of my way to keep an open mind and hear another point of view. I try to listen.
And I get insulted.
I can hear a dissenting opinion, even one that's rooted in emotion and completely unlikely to change, if it is delivered in an intellectual, effective manner. My mind has been swayed by many such passionately held arguments.
But on the interweb, there is no accountability. You don't have to look someone else in the face, you don't have to deliver an insult within hearing range. It's like a firing range for cowards, braggards, and fools. There is no intelligent debate, only a contest to see who can put down the other person better.
Don't get me wrong, I dig that kind of contest. I did, after all, cut my teeth on the grinding stone of Skippy's mammoth whit, which is no small task, and I enjoyed it, but not in the context of serious, passionate debate.
What is it about a keyboard that makes people act like children - apart from those who have every right to act that way (actual children?)? And the worst part is, I see it everywhere, and it's making everything... worse.