Internet Debates

Elixir

Elixir

Elixir

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Joined
17 Jul 2011
Posts
2,079
Are always quite amusing... everyone writes about the topic as if they are an expert, however it's glaringly obvious that both sides are just Googling their side of the argument then passing on whatever they find as if it is personal knowledge.

Anyone else guilty of this? I often read a lot of threads on here and find it funny thinking how the same debate would go in real life.

"Actually there are far more efficient ways of doing that"
"So what kind of numbers are we talking?"
"Err......"

Obviously it is a massive advantage having this resource available to us, I just find it funny that everyone is now an expert on everything. :D

Do you think it has improved your real-life debating skills as you're able to get involved in more therefore be more practised, or degraded them as you now start to put a point across with no knowledge to back it up?
 
As a general rule, I try not to debate about something I'm unsure of, whether I've got Google or not. Mostly in case I'm at risk of being wrong.
 
kaffe said:
As a general rule, I try not to debate about something I'm unsure of, whether I've got Google or not. Mostly in case I'm at risk of being wrong.
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That seems a fairly sensible principle to start with and one I try to stick to, occasionally though I'll take part in debates where I've not got much of a clue - either to learn more or because it seems clear that another party seems to be struggling and by taking a systematic approach you can elucidate instructive points from other people.

iDroid84 said:
Put the same people from a big debate on here in a room with no technology and see what happens.
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That could be interesting although not entirely fair in some ways as written submissions give more time for reflection and coherent thoughts to be composed (you might not believe it from some posts on here) even if people aren't searching for additional information to make themselves look clever(er).

I suspect I'd probably do much the same, I'm not as prolific (or perhaps voluble) as some on here so there'd be plenty doing more talking than me but on points where I'm fairly certain of my position I'd still be likely to contribute.
 
semi-pro waster said:
That could be interesting although not entirely fair in some ways as written submissions give more time for reflection and coherent thoughts to be composed (you might not believe it from some posts on here) even if people aren't searching for additional information to make themselves look clever(er).

I suspect I'd probably do much the same, I'm not as prolific (or perhaps voluble) as some on here so there'd be plenty doing more talking than me but on points where I'm fairly certain of my position I'd still be likely to contribute.
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Totally agree with you.
 
Redman said:
Quite a lot of us out here actually know things without looking them up you know ;)
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I don't deny that for a second, and I'd like to think I'm the same, however a lot of you here appear to be extremely knowledgeable in every possible subject matter. :D
 
I always thought it was more akin to a GCSE History exam paper, in that you had to back up what you were saying with sources.
 
kaffe said:
As a general rule, I try not to debate about something I'm unsure of, whether I've got Google or not. Mostly in case I'm at risk of being wrong.
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Yep, I tend to stick to areas where I have experience and knowledge from having worked in them. That way you don't need google and it is quite easy to spot who is then constructing an argument on the back of other people's opinions because whilst they can gather information they can rarely apply it in the context it would need to be in to support their viewpoint.
 
Elixir said:
I don't deny that for a second, and I'd like to think I'm the same, however a lot of you here appear to be extremely knowledgeable in every possible subject matter. :D
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That's because this. Appearing to be knowledgable in every possible subject just makes them come across as an absolute ****. And a boring *******.

Internet debate achieves nothing. Absolutely nothing. The only reason people indulge in it is for the superiority they feel when they've googled something and made someone else look wrong. And neither side can stop. Because they're both frothing at the mouth thinking "I can't stop now, if I stop, he'll think he's beaten me". So you get anal retentive autists nit picking absolutely ****ing everything about peoples posts. Lots of big words, pretentious nonsense. Small willys.
 
Brian8bit said:
That's because this. Appearing to be knowledgable in every possible subject just makes them come across as an absolute ****. And a boring *******.

Internet debate achieves nothing. Absolutely nothing. The only reason people indulge in it is for the superiority they feel when they've googled something and made someone else look wrong. And neither side can stop. Because they're both frothing at the mouth thinking "I can't stop now, if I stop, he'll think he's beaten me". So you get anal retentive autists nit picking absolutely ****ing everything about peoples posts. Lots of big words, pretentious nonsense. Small willys.
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Is that your opinion?
 
Brian8bit said:
That's because this. Appearing to be knowledgable in every possible subject just makes them come across as an absolute ****. And a boring *******.

Internet debate achieves nothing. Absolutely nothing. The only reason people indulge in it is for the superiority they feel when they've googled something and made someone else look wrong. And neither side can stop. Because they're both frothing at the mouth thinking "I can't stop now, if I stop, he'll think he's beaten me". So you get anal retentive autists nit picking absolutely ****ing everything about peoples posts. Lots of big words, pretentious nonsense. Small willys.
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Agreed.
 
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