Saturday, November 26, 2011
Alex is saying that people like Sye, Dan, and Norman deserve nothing but ridicule.
Well, it's true that that is what they deserve. But I still wouldn't recommend treating them that way. It's not for their sake. Anyone can ridicule opposing ideas [Norman's] Thunder does this all the time. Ridiculing a bad idea to reject it looks just the same as ridiculing a good idea to suppress it.
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I'm not speaking for Alex here, but would like to clarify that I believe ridicule is an important part of the response, but not the only part. It is important to develop a reasoned response, but if idiocy persists then ridicule is a valid and powerful tool to use.
When I've hung on to bad ideas in the past, the ridicule by others has given me a necessary push to review those ideas.
Well, speaking for myself, when I hear someone ridicule a position of mine (ridicule always includes a misrepresentation) I automaticly dismiss everything he has to say about it. I find it to be just a "join the bandwagon" tactic. I will re-examine my position in the face of evidence, but not in the face of ridicule.
I probably should have clarified, only once all other avenues of interaction have been exhausted should ridicule be engaged in. Sye et al thoroughly deserve ridicule and abuse for their bullshit.
Pvblivs, that's probably a testament to your reasoning skills. Ridicule worked (works?) with me when I was being irrational, and holding on to bad ideas in the face of the evidence. The ridicule in itself didn't change my mind, but it did give me a nudge to look at the evidence again.
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