A Helpful Hint in Encouraging Dialogue

I can’t believe I actually have to say this, but apparently this is a hard one, so here it goes. If you want to encourage dialogue and keep a conversation going, my tip for you is…don’t be an ass. Seriously, people don’t like to be insulted and talked down to. Try to pretend you’re actually talking to a human being, because you are. Talk to said human in a way that you’d appreciate. Basically, don’t assume they’re stupid. Don’t define simple words, or call them uneducated, or refer to yourself in intellectually superior tones because you clearly know more about the subject, because…well, you think you do, just because you don’t agree with their argument. And don’t straight up insult them. Here’s a thought for you: the people of the internet aren’t here for your entertainment anymore than your friends and family are.

Just today, one person refused to refer to atheists as atheists and instead used the word “fools.” Yet they seemed to assume their post would be met with honest dialogue instead of hostility. If you offer hostility, you’ll receive it back. And another person thought that defining “hyperbole” would make me go away because they didn’t like my argument. I hate to break it to you, but I did graduate highschool. Almost a decade ago. I don’t need the grade 10 english lesson. If you don’t like my argument, then offer a counter-argument, otherwise you just make yourself look bad.

I’ve also had someone call me uneducated because I…shocker…asked a question when an unclear claim was made. Apparently one must master ever subject and come to the exact same conclusions on everything or they must be uneducated. And another blogger decided to try and insult my intelligence because he didn’t like being told that “tranny” is discriminatory. Apparently it must be PC because it’s just a short form of “transgender.” Um…no. Not okay.

I’m tired of this disrespect, so new policy: if you come to my blog and decide to insult me and my partner, don’t bother, your comment will just be deleted. Your comment will be for naught. Feel free to let us know if you think your comment was unfairly deleted, but we do actually read them, so we know what you’ve said. If you just want to insult us, you have your own blogs, or you can make one, and you can insult us there. We want to encourage honest discussion here, and we want an environment open to anyone. The disrespectful behavior directed towards us offers neither, and makes it difficult for others to have open conversations. So, in the future, let’s keep things civil.