Monster
10-21-2005, 04:38 PM
PREFACE: This is being posted in my personal journal. It is NOT a debate thread, and I will warn anyone who turns this into a flame fest, bashes another specific member, or otherwise makes this thread into something that it's not.
Now, the first stupid tactic that I encounter all the damn time is that people go into a debate trying to prove a point so blindly that they forget to listen to their opponent. A knee-jerk reaction of "you're wrong" pisses me off. At least read or listen to what the other person has to say! Instead of saying "No, and..." try saying "Yes, but..." instead. Most of the time your debate opponent will arrive at his/her conclusion because of personal experience and/or information that was translated into preferences and opinions. Blindly assuming that the other person is just wrong simply because they don't agree with you will only lead to you passing over/ignoring valid arguments and missing out on chances to calmly and rationally explain away a misconception, or at least to justify your own standpoint in the eyes of another.
Secondly, stop assuming that somebody is stupid! Intelligent people exist on every side of every issue, I'd imagine. There will most likely be someone to defend just about anything. ****, look at NAMBLA. Just because they're disagreeing doesn't mean that they're stupid. In my opinion, if everybody acquiesced to the most dominant point made in a debate, they would be the stupid ones. Nodding your head and being a follower rather than thinking for yourself is the worst kind of idiocy, because you're not only not using your brain, but you're not even using anybody else's.
Quoting statistics is generally a bad idea to do in a debate anyway. Mark Twain said it best: "There are three kinds of lies. Lies, damn lies, and statistics." Statisticians don't set out to find empirical evidence for a hypothesis, they set out to selectively choose target groups that are most likely to agree with the preconceived statement that the stats will "prove."
98.47% of all statistics are made up on the spot. The remainder are falsified to prove a point.
That's about all I can think of right now, but I'll add more if I think of them.
Now, the first stupid tactic that I encounter all the damn time is that people go into a debate trying to prove a point so blindly that they forget to listen to their opponent. A knee-jerk reaction of "you're wrong" pisses me off. At least read or listen to what the other person has to say! Instead of saying "No, and..." try saying "Yes, but..." instead. Most of the time your debate opponent will arrive at his/her conclusion because of personal experience and/or information that was translated into preferences and opinions. Blindly assuming that the other person is just wrong simply because they don't agree with you will only lead to you passing over/ignoring valid arguments and missing out on chances to calmly and rationally explain away a misconception, or at least to justify your own standpoint in the eyes of another.
Secondly, stop assuming that somebody is stupid! Intelligent people exist on every side of every issue, I'd imagine. There will most likely be someone to defend just about anything. ****, look at NAMBLA. Just because they're disagreeing doesn't mean that they're stupid. In my opinion, if everybody acquiesced to the most dominant point made in a debate, they would be the stupid ones. Nodding your head and being a follower rather than thinking for yourself is the worst kind of idiocy, because you're not only not using your brain, but you're not even using anybody else's.
Quoting statistics is generally a bad idea to do in a debate anyway. Mark Twain said it best: "There are three kinds of lies. Lies, damn lies, and statistics." Statisticians don't set out to find empirical evidence for a hypothesis, they set out to selectively choose target groups that are most likely to agree with the preconceived statement that the stats will "prove."
98.47% of all statistics are made up on the spot. The remainder are falsified to prove a point.
That's about all I can think of right now, but I'll add more if I think of them.