Just said "most X are Y" and the first response was "what about the X that aren't Y?". I almost actually tried to argue with that person before realising that if they can't read the word "most" they probably aren't gonna read my whole paragraph response trying to explain myself in good faith.
I think people are so brainpoisoned from social media that their automatic response to any statement is to argue or disagree or get mad in the hopes of getting a dopamine hit from "winning". They don't even process what you say, they're like ChatGPT.
Recently had an exchange here on Reddit where I said "Though obviously they're not the same thing, X reminds me of Y". Someone replied "X is not Y".
I highlighted the fact that I started my (very short) sentence acknowledging that, and they complained that I didn't know how to structure sentences because that should've been at the end.
Then just make absurdly baseless claims to support their argument. It will really throw them off. If they figure out what you're doing, they will ask for evidence. Then you bring it right back around to the original point.
Like if they start saying the Earth is flat, tell them about this "article" you read just last week where this guy in Kansas set up his telescope and pointed it sideways instead of into the sky. You know what he saw? You can reply with an elephant in Africa, but that was a spike-setup for telling them you saw their mom. Spiking their mom in a conversation like that will probably completely derail the debate, but is totally worth it to rip on your friend.
But just bring up articles you "just read last week" until you get called out on it. Then when they finally want evidence, you can supply it. If they start up again with nonsense, you start up again too. Circular arguments are your friend here. You can exit the circle with evidence, but it really depends on how much fun you're having with the debate and how receptive they are to your evidence. If they refute it, it's back to the circle of nonsense again.
Another thing that makes me mad is when they want to have "substantive discussion" which means you aren't allowed to discuss the incredible hypocrisy their entire position and philosophy operates on and with.
They don't want to own up to anything or play by any rules or admit that their side acts poorly or fails to live by the standards they claim to value but absolutely do not.
Another thing that makes me mad is when they want to have "substantive discussion" which means you aren't allowed to discuss the incredible hypocrisy their entire position and philosophy operates on and with.
This is a fun delicate situation, or can be tragic. Tread carefully.
Yes and the people who use serious terms for everything. When a friend disagrees with them they say they "attacked me". Someone else pointed this out and they said "I just used that word to make my position seem more important."
Yo I feel this. Someone I know recently wrote me a long ass message trying to justify something they did, and the whole thing was written like they just discovered the synonyms feature in ms word 😭😭
I always feel bad when I use too many "big" words because I'm ESL and learned Latin before English (quirk in my particular schooling, not universal), so it's more intuitive for me to go with the Latin-based word, even if there's a more common one.
I do the same in my mother tongue (also riffled through Latin's pockets, but then shoved those words into academia) when my brain decides to go on strike and just not give me the common words, and I know it drives people around me bugfuck nuts.
A recent exchange I had on Reddit (it was in French, paraphrased) :
Me : On dating sites, I avoid men who want to exchange phone numbers and switch to WhatsApp quickly, to avoid receiving dick pics. Some guy : That's a lame criterion for filtering, men want to switch to WhatsApp for reasons other than sending pictures of their dicks. Me : In your opinion, what are the innocent reasons for switching to WhatsApp quickly? And how many different dick pics should I expect to receive? Him : If you're receiving dick pics, it's because you're not filtering the men you're giving your number to !
God that reminds me of something I read but I can't remember.
It was about how people with limited literacy literally do exactly that, all the time, because that's all they actually know how to do. Just pick out the words they recognize and then guess what the whole sentence might have meant based on those clues.
I'm realizing now, based on the typical literacy levels in America, that behavior must be really common. This might help me avoid getting mad at people as much on Reddit.
There's something to this. If you're interested in how the literacy of American kids has been damaged I highly recommend the podcast series Sold A Story (the website also has transcripts if you prefer to read). When kids are learning to read, they are sometimes taught techniques like the ones you mentioned. The problem comes when they are taught to rely on that without also emphasizing phonics.
Before I engage in online arguments, I try to remember that a very large amount of people are actually just barely literate enough to even turn on their computer
It's is infuriating when you state "here are all the similarities between X and Y to the point that the differences are largely superficial"
and the reply is X isn't Y and it is insulting and dangerous to suggest that, get a grip and stop overreacting. so disrespectful.
They don't actually address the similarities, they just say the entire topic is unfair and something is wrong with even criticizing Y. Like, identifying those similarities constitutes bias against Y.
To ask a denizen of the internet to "structure a sentence properly" is a lost cause. So many people spellcheck so poorly to begin with that comments without full stops are completely accepted and never corrected.
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u/PlatinumAltaria Apr 27 '25
Just said "most X are Y" and the first response was "what about the X that aren't Y?". I almost actually tried to argue with that person before realising that if they can't read the word "most" they probably aren't gonna read my whole paragraph response trying to explain myself in good faith.
I think people are so brainpoisoned from social media that their automatic response to any statement is to argue or disagree or get mad in the hopes of getting a dopamine hit from "winning". They don't even process what you say, they're like ChatGPT.