Saturday, May 23, 2009

Futility

Signs that the debate you are engaging in is futile:
  • Instead of answering any of your points, they attack you and your expertise/knowledge personally.
  • They deny saying things that they said, even when provided with quotes, which usually leads to...
  • They accuse you of quoting them out of context, even when the context does not change the meaning in any significant way.
  • They become condescending and tell you they feel sorry for you because you don't agree with them.
  • They continue to repeat an argument that you have already refuted.
  • They accuse you of taking things too seriously for continuing the debate, even as they are continuing it.
Just a few I have encountered recently. Anything to add?

3 comments:

  1. Glad to see you are back blogging. If you wouldn't mind, could you please change the link to Atheist Revolution in your blogroll to point to http://www.atheistrev.com/

    I finally got a real domain. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I sure can! Thanks for stopping by.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Let me guess you've been reading debates between believers and non-believers recently! :-)

    I find this very frustrating, and agree with your "signs". I often read and sometimes post at the Skpetic's Annotated Bible (both on the discussion boards and the blog), and many debates seem to end up with people fighting over what they did or didn't claim, or repeating the same argument over and over.

    I find this very frustrating, since I try to be very honest and open-minded, and concede points where appropriate/warranted, but a lot of other people do not do this. When I'm actually trying to explore more about a topic and find out what other people think, when the other person is just trying to outdo someone in debate, it seems futile sometimes.

    ReplyDelete

"The only way to make sure people you agree with can speak is to support the rights of people you don't agree with." -Eleanor Holmes Norton