How to debate a conspiracy - Do's and Don'ts

I think i would rather choose how to debate and approach members myself thank you very much, but im sure someone will appreciate this thread and the tips given, so i will give you a flag.

[edit on 29-8-2010 by Solomons]

reply to post by Three_moons

Don't criticize when others don't recognize your sarcasm. To avoid that, make it obviously known when you are using sarcasm.

I should have read this post 15 minutes ago. I just did this very thing and was my comment was taken as serious.

ETA: I completely agree about ESL; in my work, I constantly find people studying ESL to be way better at grammar than native English speakers.

And I completely contradict my first post in the thread

[edit on 29-8-2010 by InvisibleAlbatross]

reply to post by Signals


“What is life? An illusion, a shadow, a story, And the greatest good is little enough: for all life is a dream, and dreams themselves are only dreams”
-Pedro Calderon de la Barca

The life is a dream is not sarcasm...not really anyhow, it is actually a very old philosophical viewpoint...

and that guy was a troll

reply to post by SaturnFX


One must remember to follow one's on advice...

Having said that, I will bid this little foray in to hypocrisy farewell



[edit on 29-8-2010 by Signals]

While that was a great OP SaturnFX, but this is how it works on ATS.

Remember, always be rude and crass to other members (shows your intellectual superiority)

When knocked down in a debate, don't worry, just ignore the posts that completely debunk your side of the argument, wait a few posts, and re-post the exact same information in a slightly different way. (A constant tool of Birthers)

ALWAYS use emotion, emotions are widely underused on discussion boards. Remember, nothing shows anger better than TYPING IN ALL CAPS AND COLORING THE TEXT RED!!!!

When backed into a corner remember, nothing is better than a good ad hominem attack, say something about the persons parentage even if you have no clue about their home life. Always assume that everyone on the internet is a 13 year old boy posting from their parents basements.

Being calm and logical is boring, and puts people to sleep. Always take something that can be solved with logic and reason and try and solve it using the most illogical and extreme methods possible.

Most racial slurs are already blocked by the censors, so instead invent your own or research new ones on the internet when talking about people, and don't forget to always generalize everyone of an ethnic, political, or religious group into the same mold, makes it easier to dehumanize them and make them into monsters.

Sarcasm can never ever be overused!

Thankfully we here at ATS have someone to instruct us on how to post.

ooops...that was sarcasm....which commandment did I break???


damn did it again..

reply to post by InvisibleAlbatross



It's so easy for the sarcasm issue to happen though, isn't it? I've been guilty of it myself probably. We're all still getting used to this new, but not really new, form of communication. Seems strange to say we still need to work on communicating through writing properly since it's far from new.

A friend had a girlfriend a few years ago who was originally from Russia and I told her straight up I thought her grammar was better than mine. It's kind of embarrassing but truthful.

Im flabbergasted at how bad many Americans are at spotting sarcasm though, seems us brits are the best in the world when it comes to sarcasm(and self deprecation btw)...i have seen posts literally dripping in sarcasm only for someone to take it very seriously and write an angry lengthy reply...How about posting a sarcastic post about asking if a post is being sarcastic? takes skill.

[edit on 30-8-2010 by Solomons]

reply to post by Solomons

Without knowing the individual in a forum such as this I think it's especially difficult to determine sarcasm, but that's coming from an American so what do I know?

reply to post by Solomons


The little emo's we have can be helpful in expressing certain "indignations". lol.

These can help imply sarcasm: or

Originally posted by Signals
reply to post by SaturnFX

 

One must remember to follow one's on advice...

Having said that, I will bid this little foray in to hypocrisy farewell

[edit on 29-8-2010 by Signals]

Interesting, so according to you, people are not allowed to strive for improving their ability to debate and discuss more...also, its best to come in and instead of comment on the subject at hand, you discuss the writer, ignoring any and all value of the content.

I have done everything I have posted in the past, and probably will in the future more...I certainly am not perfect but I do strive to improve myself as time goes on...if that is hypocracy, then so be it, but its better than stagnation in my opinion.

I don't really know you...read the odd post here and there by you, I guess you know me well enough not to like my postings, but thats not really my problem. I wish you the best

IMHO....nothing makes a point better than clever sarcasm....


...not sarcasm...take that one literally.....

yay me! first non-sarcastic post!..