Why is arguing online so tempting at times?

Community Forums/Common Room/Why is arguing online so tempting at times?

Matty(Posted April) [#1]
There are topics that we (used) to not be supposed to discuss on these boards, politics, religion and so forth - in fact the whole off topic area was for a long time not allowed.

I think that is generally a good thing here - it has probably contributed to the positive community space we have.

But in terms of general internet behaviour of human beings - what is it about being stuck behind a screen with a veil of anonymity and a sense of rightness about our opinions that leaves us eager to jump into a fight about almost any topic (but especially those of politics and religion).

What is it about the nature of human beings that leads us to prefer to fight, often with no purpose or intent to change our opinions, online - in ways we would never speak face to face?

What is it about the online space that contributes to this in ways the real world does not?

And what about yourself - if someone makes a comment you disagree with on a topic you feel you are knowledgeable in - do you jump in? or do you let it slide?


steve_ancell(Posted April) [#2]
Depends on whether or not the other person is being a bellend. And on the politics and religion thing, if governments weren't so greedy and religious nutjobs didn't go around killing people then this topic probably wouldn't exist. ;)


(tu) ENAY(Posted April) [#3]
Self control really. Personally I don't see the point in trying to argue with people online. I mean, they (nobody) might not even read it all. Just learn to control yourself. Most people waste all their spare time fighting on the Internet, total waste of time.


steve_ancell(Posted April) [#4]
There is a diffence between having different views and a full on argy-bargy though I suppose.


RemiD(Posted April) [#5]
Everything you say (or don't say), do (or don't do), may influence the views of some people and therefore their choices in the future.
Everything has an impact, even the lack of words/actions.
I was very impressed to see that some of my posts (not here) that i posted several years ago, are still answered and sometimes thanked for the understandings/views/ideas they contain (and i am also grateful to be able to access others interesting posts/videos from others people (who may be dead today !))

a little quote from i don't remember who :

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.


replace "evil" by bad/harmful things and "good men" by you and the people/things that you like, and you may realize that doing nothing against those who want to destroy/replace the things that you like or the people that you like, is like suicide.

But that is just my 1cent (why 2cents ???)


Bobysait(Posted April) [#6]
"a little quote from i don't remember who"
-> Edmund Burke.


skidracer(Posted April) [#7]
Matty, you couldn't be more wrong, arguing online is not tempting at any time.


Blitzplotter(Posted April) [#8]
It's a fine line, argument or discussion, I prefer the latter.


Hotcakes(Posted April) [#9]
total waste of time.

I'm always happy to argue/point out facts in an effort to educate. The people you're speaking directly to are more often than not too self involved to accept them, but it's the people who AREN'T commenting, the people reading on the sidelines, the people who don't think they know as much as the people actually talking who claim to know everything - these people can be reasoned with. You won't often know when it happens, but if you present a sound argument you will affect people. Sometimes they even let you know.

Remember, the 'silent' Trump voter/Brexiters are out there - a phenomenon caused by people being shamed out of rational discussion about matters of 'wrongthink'. The vast, vast, VAST majority of people do not fit into the specific angels/Nazi left/right extremists that the public narrative has been painted as.

Still, I won't argue that's it's not a waste of time - everyone has differing priorities in their lives.


xlsior(Posted April) [#10]
See: Penny Arcade's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory

But in terms of general internet behaviour of human beings - what is it about being stuck behind a screen with a veil of anonymity and a sense of rightness about our opinions that leaves us eager to jump into a fight about almost any topic (but especially those of politics and religion).


The main reason is most likely that pretty much everyone has strong opinions on those subject matters one way or the other, and people that don't agree with those opinions must therefore be wrong, and should see the error of their ways.


(tu) ENAY(Posted April) [#11]
Hotcakes, I agree if you want to give out your opinion then by all means. It's when you read their first response. If they ignore what you said, get angry etc, it's best to just ignore them. If you can't have a discussion or debate like adults then you really are wasting your time.


Remember, the 'silent' Trump voter/Brexiters are out there - a phenomenon caused by people being shamed out of rational discussion about matters of 'wrongthink'. The vast, vast, VAST majority of people do not fit into the specific angels/Nazi left/right extremists that the public narrative has been painted as.



The lalala I'm not listening approach has unfortunately made it into real life through the special snowflake generation.
Not all cases obviously, but if you refuse to debate or discuss what your opponent is saying, or just flat out shout over them that they're wrong, or a racist. Or how dare you say it.
Then the chances that they're in the wrong are pretty much 100%, if you're afraid of discussion, then you've lost.

Also, if you resort to insults or (death) threats, again, you've lost.


Naughty Alien(Posted April) [#12]

But in terms of general internet behaviour of human beings - what is it about being stuck behind a screen with a veil of anonymity and a sense of rightness about our opinions that leaves us eager to jump into a fight about almost any topic (but especially those of politics and religion).



..i think such behaviour is directly proportional to a level of suppressed freedom of expressing personal thinking/opinion , for particular person...what is the reason for that could be any, from very personal (complexes of some sort, and so on), up to society itself..

..my honest opinion about keyboard warriors of any kind is, 'white noise'..apart from this forum, which i consider very civilized so far, i will barely even try to argue, no matter what topic is..as i said..white noise...you know..there is always some hill to climb and walk in a park or simple as cup of coffee with some book or something, instead of trying to make sense out of 'white noise'..


Hotcakes(Posted April) [#13]
I agree if you want to give out your opinion then by all means. It's when you read their first response.

Oh absolutely. Their response determines whether I speak with respect, or treat them as sport :p

Evidently I have less respect for my own time than you do :D


Matty(Posted April) [#14]
No discussion about argument can be had without of course referring to the authority on arguments:




EdzUp MkII(Posted April) [#15]
Matty, you couldn't be more wrong, arguing online is not tempting at any time.


Sounds like ya trying to start a argument lol :)

Seriously though everything on the Internet has no emotion behind it so is read using the persons own emotional state as a backdrop for what the person was saying, this tends to cause most of the arguments as words can easily be misconstrued


RemiD(Posted April) [#16]
What is annoying imo is people who just copy/paste their lengthy propaganda everywhere on forums/video comments/blog comments/article comments, this is just flooding.

Exchanging understandings/views is always interesting if you are not closed minded/blocked (even if some views/choices are really a matter of taste and can't be shown good/bad better/worse).

It does not need to be about politics or religion, it can be about anything...

What i find beautiful is that, nowadays, you can watch a debate between Christopher Hitchens and Tariq Ramadan (2 opposite views of the world, but a respectful debate), this is what freedom of speech represents, you can debate and disagree strongly with your "opponent" without insulting him or hurting him. (some people apparently don't know how to do that...)

What is also great, thanks to the exchange of informations on the web, is when you realize that you can agree/disagree with some views/words/behaviors/actions of some people but not everything and not nothing (like fanatics do), and also when you know how to determine that a claim/"fact" is most likely true or most likely false. (whatever the authority which spreads it) ("anybody can say anything")

anyway !


(tu) ENAY(Posted April) [#17]
Big fan of Christopher Hitchens, although I wish he'd had a debate about whether smoking is a killer though


ErikT(Posted April) [#18]
Everything you say (or don't say), do (or don't do), may influence the views of some people and therefore their choices in the future.
Everything has an impact, even the lack of words/actions.

I agree with this.

Sometimes I'll engage in online discussions to sharpen my own debating skills. Like, it's good exercise for the brain. And sometimes I'll see people I think seem otherwise reasonable and intelligent put out opinions I find outlandish and that compels me to respond too. But if the exchange isn't going anywhere constructive I'll usually just back off and chill. That's time better spent doing other stuff.


RemiD(Posted April) [#19]
The worse thing you can do is to consider that because you have a good understanding of a subject, and you have a good ability to determine what is most likely true or false related to this subject, that everybody else has the same level of understanding and "intelligence". This is faaaaar from being the case... So your contribution to the discussion can sometimes be very useful to others.

However there is a difference between a respectful debate/discussion and flaming/trolling. So moderate yourself.


ErikT(Posted April) [#20]
However there is a difference between a respectful debate/discussion and flaming/trolling. So moderate yourself.

Was I trolling? I thought I was just giving my honest opinion. Well, moderated honest opinion in fact. If I served up my raw opinion on some of the abhorrent muck I see posted from time to time I'd get banned in no time I bet.


cps(Posted April) [#21]
Maybe it's the anonymity provided by the mob dynamic that's at work, giving the pointy stick people an area to run around in.
IE The bit in Frankinstien where some politician gets the locals fired up for his/her own ends and off they go with their pitchforks and fire. Have fun cps
(Note 'Pointy Stick People' curtesy of Malcolm Pryce, from his Aberystwyth series)


RemiD(Posted April) [#22]
@ErikT>>this was not aimed at you ! (but rather a good rule to follow imo) (you troll ! ;) )


JoshK(Posted April) [#23]
Yeah, I think that mob dynamics thing is really troubling. People will fight for their side in real life and blame all their problems on someone else, but in real life we can't even look each other in the eye anymore.

I'm going to try doing without the web as much as possible starting after this post. The most interesting things are actually happening right now in your local community, but the really cool stuff isn't posted online.

I think the internet is really screwing society up in weird ways. We're at a stage now where "normal" people are getting sucked into things that only nerds would spend their time on. It's like everyone is turning into "comic book guy" or something.


ErikT(Posted April) [#24]
RemiD 6 hours ago #22
@ErikT>>this was not aimed at you ! (but rather a good rule to follow imo) (you troll ! ;) )

LOL sorry XD

And this is another reason I don't post online very often. So easy to misread intent.


(tu) ENAY(Posted April) [#25]
JoshK, high five man. You just perfectly wrote what I was going to write.

It's odd, my parents and relatives were so worried about me never going outside and spending all my time on computers. Except that made the success that I became.

But now absolutely everyone else is doing that, or similiar. The generation is very worrying indeed but because it's "normal". Nobody seems to be seeing the potential future and the damage.


RemiD(Posted April) [#26]
What is problematic is when you encounter a beautiful women in the street/mall but you can't make eye contact with her because she is blocked on her smartphone (maybe on facebook) ! (fortunately this is not always the case)


JoshK(Posted April) [#27]
JoshK, high five man. You just perfectly wrote what I was going to write.

It's odd, my parents and relatives were so worried about me never going outside and spending all my time on computers. Except that made the success that I became.

But now absolutely everyone else is doing that, or similiar. The generation is very worrying indeed but because it's "normal". Nobody seems to be seeing the potential future and the damage.

Yeah, it's like I probably spent too much time playing SNES as a kid, but I found a way to monetize that interest and I grew out of the childish stuff. I look around me now and grown adults are sucked into the internet in a way that is far worse than anything I ever experienced, and it's going nowhere.


Naughty Alien(Posted April) [#28]
+1 JoshK


RemiD(Posted April) [#29]
internet is not the problem, the problem is people wasting time/energy/money on stupid things...

Last year i decided to work on creating video games and to play video games just during the winter months (october, november, december, january, february, march), in order to break my addictions and the huge amount of time/energy i put in that (for not worthy return), it worked well, i am doing the same thing this year.

You can replace "playing video games" by watching tv/movies/videos on youtube, reading fictional books, practicing a sport (obsessively), playing board games/card games, checking your facebook/googleplus status, unnecessary shopping, or any other addiction that you may have.
The internet is not the problem, there were activities to waste time/energy/money in meaningless ways and to become addicted/obsessed before the internet...


(tu) ENAY(Posted April) [#30]
The internet IS the problem RemiD.

Sure people can be stupid and like you say, spend all day watching tv/movies/videos on youtube, reading fictional books, practicing a sport etc.

But what's the difference there? It's just one person.

The Internet is the means through instant communication. Due to the Internet stupid people are finding each other, and through a common interest promoting and contributing to stupid ideas. Instead of these people realise they're wasting their time, learning and growing up or doing something else, they are surrounding themselves with each other, bubbles of stupidity and spreading it like cancer, or worse like cults.


RemiD(Posted April) [#31]
Was it better when you had no choice but to read/watch/listento one media spread by the dominating government/religious powers of your country ? Certainly not.
The problem is the behavior of people. Not the tool/technology.

Also while some people are wasting time/energy posting useless things on facebook/googleplus, i can access the research of visionary people and try to understand what they were doing and try to improve the technology, or also improve my understanding of the world/specificsubjects by reading different facts/arguments/views.
All of this is very beneficial and leads to progress (unless the majority of people behave like in "idiocracy" and self destroy themselves, which is quite possible...)