See

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gish_gallop

That fact that there is a term for it is just as depressing.

In my wise old age I don't waste time on fools. I no longer have the patience. I used to try to talk them out of whatever stupidity they're peddling and it was rarely successful. Not worth the effort.

I have heard the way to do it, is to take their crazy and take it WAY past their line until they back off themselves.

Moron: "There are only two genders!" Normal: "Right?!" Moron: "Ma-" Normal: "Trans and supergay".

No comment on the contents of my example. It's the only comic strip I remember at the moment.

There are some people who have just been filled with so much wrong information over the course of their life that it's impossible to reach them. Anything you say to them will have a keyword that puts their guard up, any fact you share would be fake news. It's like their brains have been encrypted with the propaganda and hate. It's pavlovian. I try to recognize it in myself and maintain an open mind but it's hard.

7/10 ppl online.

But w lemme its still 7/10....but there's obly like 10 users so I can handle it.

MAGAs. Sometimes I don't even debate them, I ignore them and talk about them as if they weren't there, make fun of their arguments, laugh at them, mock them, just generally bully them, without even addressing them directly. They really hate that.

MAGAs and Anti-Vaxxers are about the only acceptable bullying targets, and they should be bullied as viciously and as relentlessly as possible. The damage they have done is incalculable, they deserve it.

I met a guy in a sauna the other day who started preaching to me and saying that he doesn't believe in science because it contradicts the bible story of creation.

I just had nothing to say to this man. His perception of reality is so far off base that I cannot comprehend his thought processes.

So often it's me typing out a big old comment. Realizing I can preempt some nuance to help the conversation. Thinking of a dozen more little nitpicks that might happen and realizing it's just not worth it and it's really the idiocy of the argument that's making it so hard to explain myself.

I wish more people simply... Learned how to shut up.

Yes, it's me

Because I don't come to these spaces to discuss other people's feelings about things, I come to them to see whats in the zeitgiest

It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with an idiot.

I think you should at bare minimum voice some opposition. It helps you reinforce why you believe the things you do and it shows the readers that this idea is present. We are where we are today because the smart people refused to engage and failed to get their side of the argument into public discourse.

If I open a comment section and its full of tankie opinions I have to comment because I dont want the majority of people who lurk to think lemmy is only tankies.

"Right extremists are defending Democracy"

Just 2 weeks ago and I still haven't recovered from hearing that in person.

Yes, i have meet a person before. I have also commented on the internet.

Gish galloping is a well known argumentative technique to avoid scrutiny. It works so well, that now the US government is using a version of it to destroy the government at a rapid pace.

Me, an intellectual:

I certainly get accused of being that person often enough, but I’m right >95% of the time because I don’t really argue unless I know what I’m talking about.

The denominator is divisible by the numerator.

I live in rual northern Nevada and everyone here is hardcore brainwashed republicans. I used to try to correct them when they said dumb shit but it just made me look stupid, so now I just watch and listen to there ramblings. It’s more entertaining for me and less of a headache.

One thing I always hated about microblogs and their character limits was that it was just enough characters to spout stupid bullshit but never enough to explain to why it's wrong.

The fact that I'm a 2/10 isn't even the reason I'm so full of shit though.