Topic: Attack the argument, not the man. (Read 1300 times)

I've thought about this but I'm not sure how to get three people on a video chat.  The site I mentioned only does two (I think).  Are you wanting to debate FlipPro?  Who would you choose as a moderator?  Most people on this forum seem to have very strong and polarized views. 

You said it, not me.

Get some moderators and I'm down

I suppose it ruins some of the anonymity that people like about the internet forums.  But that's what Guy Fawkes masks are for, yes?   

Yes it would be fun to do this. People have challenged me to debates, but they always want written debates (much easier) and never full video ones. I will only debate via live stream and live stream only

This could be fun and interesting, actually.  There are online sites where you can host debates.  I'm not very good at live debates but it would be a good way to get better provided the context was correct.

That's a single sentence taken out of context. The point is, you can't call me a hypocrite unless you can show that my previous policy was never to insult people that insulted me first. You catch me from this moment on, you'll have made a point.

The level of skillful debate in this forum is embarrassing.

I am about to have a weekly debate show and just bring along anyone from the forum and destroy them.

You can think so, but you can't force others too...

It doesn't matter what I did in the past. This is my policy moving forward. If anyone catches me insulting someone from this point on they'll have a valid claim to hypocrisy. I tried going toe-to-toe with the insults but it's gotten old. I'm trying something new. If anyone doesn't like it or understand it, too bad. Things change.

No offense, but I'm starting to get the feeling you are desperate for attention.

I'm just going to second clicking on the link jgraham provided.  It's good for some definite lulz as moron2cash's (oops, there I go again) hypocricy is exposed.

Now For The Democratic Response...

Except that "attacking me personally" seems to mean virtually any kind of criticism about bicoin2cash's character or even his/her approach.  As opposed to some kind of completely inappropriate invective.

Yes my mom told me that too.  She lied.  Good things come in bad wrappers.  Some people who swear and insult you will have some absolutely excellent things to say.
Welcome to planet earth where naivete is not rewarded.


It's worth while highlighting some of the things said by bitcoin2cash in the thread that precipitated this little whinefest of his.

"little bitch" - misogynistic and insulting
"little douche" - also misogynistic and insulting - wasn't there a thread about "How do we get more women involved."?
"piece of shit troll"
"idiot"
"What will help penetrate that thick skull of yours"

You can see the whole thing here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=39131.80

...and while some people have certainly responded in kind (and even instigated).  Some are in the dog-house for using words like "small minded" and "violent" (oh and "jerky" but I already apologized for that one).

This kind of reminds me.  In the informal fallacies there's something called "Ad hominem" which means in Latin "To the man".  The idea being that an attack on a person is not an attack on an argument.  So even if we found out that bitcoin2cash really did eat babies or something more realistic like he's a terrible hypocrite when it comes to telling people to mind their language   it doesn't mean that his arguments are false.

But the principle has nothing to do with bitcoin2cash's nonsense.  Heck many famous debates and philosophers traded insults.  Socrates was (rightly or wrong) noted for having insulted more people than any crime could have ever brought him.   Even the Bible has insults in it - like what Paul advises people who think people need to be ritually circumcised should do.

“It is not he who reviles or strikes you who insults you, but your opinion that these things are insulting." - Epictetus.

Not to mention he was the sole reason that the board had to add an ignore feature. 

You don't like it when people attack you personally, huh?  This shit just got real...  Check it:

You kick puppies.
You eat babies.
You make babies and puppies fight for money.
You make Michael Vick fight babies and puppies for money.
YOU caused Hurricane Irene!
The upcoming horror of QE3 is YOUR fault.
The DC Earthquake?  Yeah, you, jerk.
It's your fault every time Arsenal loses to Man United.
..and vice versa.
It it wasn't for you, the Tacoma Narrows bridge would still be standing.
Justin Beiber.  We blame you for him.
..ditto Lady Gaga.
Naoto Kan resigned because of YOU.
Janet Reno used to be a supermodel until YOU got a hold of her.
The Statue of Liberty is green because of you.

And most importantly...

Every time I get an ice-cream headache, it's YOUR FAULT.



(I have no idea who you are, but I saw this post and had to reply.)

I've given out my fair share of insults, only to people that insulted me first, but that changes now. From this point on, anyone attacking me personally will be put on ignore until an apology is received along with a promise to stop that kind of behavior. Anyone that doesn't want to do that, isn't worth talking to anyways. We all have different opinions. That's fine. We can discuss it politely or we can insult each other. I won't be engaging people that choose the latter anymore. I see no big loss in not talking to you if you can't act politely. I'm sure you'll come up with all kinds of reasons why I just want to ignore your "genius" but you'll never know since you refuse to behave yourself.

Current Ignore List:

AyeYo
FirstAscent
jgraham