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Raistlin · 05-03-2009, 09:07

I think that in forums generally (he says, trying to move away from an increasingly rapdily opening chasm and get things back on track before anybody is given an excuse to get all excited about anything - little hint there for everybody

) you are always going to get a few people that just will not walk away from an argument.

I use the word argument rather than discussion here, because by the time you reach the point where a discussion becomes that heated that you need to consider walking away there's really no other word for it.

I'll quite happy state my case, and fight my corner, to a point. You have to realise though that occasionally you're going to be discussing things with someone that (for whatever reason) just will not listen to reason, just will not even conceed any other point of view than their own, and will not allow themselves to be flexible/moveable in any way. At that point the whole point of the discussion ends, because all that happens is that you find yourself repeating the same points over and over and over and over and over.....

What you need to ask yourself at that point is this: is it really worth it?

Some people seem to think that they need to 'win' every single discussion, and that blinds them to the fact that they're either a) banging their head against someone that's not interested in any point of view other than their own, or b) being baited by someone who's only interest is to create tension and disagreement and then watch the trouble escalate.

I just can't be bothered. Once I've said my piece and then realised that I'm wasting my time I'll walk away. There's little point in wasting my time on either of the above categories of people, because frankly my time's a lot more valuable than that.

There are some people (generally speaking, on many forums, and pointing the finger at nobody in particular) that do themselves no favours by the way that they act. I understand that they want to get their point across, and I understand that they don't want to be seen to back down/lose face, and I understand that they're prepared to stand up and argue for what they believe - but they need to understand that sometimes discretion really is the better part of valour, and learn when to just walk away.

05-03-2009, 09:07	#36
Raistlin Inactive Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: There's no place like 127.0.0.1 Services: Depends on the person and the price they're offering Posts: 12,384	Re: Strong Dogmatic View points! I think that in forums generally (he says, trying to move away from an increasingly rapdily opening chasm and get things back on track before anybody is given an excuse to get all excited about anything - little hint there for everybody ) you are always going to get a few people that just will not walk away from an argument. I use the word argument rather than discussion here, because by the time you reach the point where a discussion becomes that heated that you need to consider walking away there's really no other word for it. I'll quite happy state my case, and fight my corner, to a point. You have to realise though that occasionally you're going to be discussing things with someone that (for whatever reason) just will not listen to reason, just will not even conceed any other point of view than their own, and will not allow themselves to be flexible/moveable in any way. At that point the whole point of the discussion ends, because all that happens is that you find yourself repeating the same points over and over and over and over and over..... What you need to ask yourself at that point is this: is it really worth it? Some people seem to think that they need to 'win' every single discussion, and that blinds them to the fact that they're either a) banging their head against someone that's not interested in any point of view other than their own, or b) being baited by someone who's only interest is to create tension and disagreement and then watch the trouble escalate. I just can't be bothered. Once I've said my piece and then realised that I'm wasting my time I'll walk away. There's little point in wasting my time on either of the above categories of people, because frankly my time's a lot more valuable than that. There are some people (generally speaking, on many forums, and pointing the finger at nobody in particular) that do themselves no favours by the way that they act. I understand that they want to get their point across, and I understand that they don't want to be seen to back down/lose face, and I understand that they're prepared to stand up and argue for what they believe - but they need to understand that sometimes discretion really is the better part of valour, and learn when to just walk away.