I've read quite a number of debates in this forum and, though they are excellent debates, I notice some people getting worked up. Either that or swearing gets induced

I'm just wondering why that is?

I mean if you think about it, you get yourself involved in a debate you should know very well isn't going to go anywhere, religious debates never do go anywhere and never will, and nobody is going to convince anyone, yet we still get so worked up.

I just think we ought to keep our emotions and words in check. I think even though the debate is rational, throwing in cuss words here and there really kills the maturity. It's a sad fact of society I suppose.

(September 3, 2009 at 12:55 am)Retorth Wrote: I've read quite a number of debates in this forum and, though they are excellent debates, I notice some people getting worked up. Either that or swearing gets induced

I'm just wondering why that is?

I mean if you think about it, you get yourself involved in a debate you should know very well isn't going to go anywhere, religious debates never do go anywhere and never will, and nobody is going to convince anyone, yet we still get so worked up.

I just think we ought to keep our emotions and words in check. I think even though the debate is rational, throwing in cuss words here and there really kills the maturity. It's a sad fact of society I suppose.

I get convinced when someone gives me logic or evidence I deem satisfactory. This forum is an example of a place where i really do learn something new every day. The religious debates could be beneficial to someone... if only the religious could realize how stupid they are. And people have been been converted, or at least began to ask questions, at this very forum before. I see nothing wrong with them.

As for emotions, they can change in an instant. They are very conditional, and are subject to very rapid changes. However, without them: we become very robotic. And i dislike speaking as a robot would speak, so expect no change from me.

---

Oh, and call me squirky: Why so serious?

The last time I got even remotely angry on the internet was almost 6 years ago, I was 15 and I'm 21 in two days time now.
I can't understand the anger on the net anymore, I've been on the net pretty much daily since I was 12 now, and like I said - since I was 15 I've never been angry really. Why? Because I don't see anyone as a threat, and I can't think of one reason to be pissed off. I have no idea why I would.

As for swearing, I swear relatively a lot on these forums (relative to others perhaps, at least on average)? But that means fuck-all in respect to me, because I'm not remotely angry. I don't ad hom people, I just swear in general. Often it's the excitement actually - I love debates! And even with fr0d0 lol . I've not got remotely angry online since I was 15, so yes - this means that I'm the top poster on this forum and I'll never let a topic drop if I can help it, but in not one of these posts have I been even remotely angry. And I can only remember being mildly frustrated with my efforts (not at the other person - in a completely impersonal way) like once with fr0d0 maybe, and like two times with Jon Paul. And like I said - that's 100% impersonal.

Finally - offline I am also much less angry than before too. I hope I see no reason to genuinely get angry with someone, and I haven't hated one single personal for a long long while. I hope it stays that way. It's actually a by-product of me not believing in free-will so I don't feel I can justly hate someone when I can't exactly blame what they're doing entirely mechanically! Whether it seems that way to them or not. That also applies to me obviously lol.
And on the matter of others getting angry - other than the fact that they blame each other because they implicitly seem to believe that others are somehow causing themselves to do wrong, other than the free-will thing, to be honest I cant' think of one real reason why anyone would be wound up over it. It just seems completely irrational to me now unless they believe that or something like that. I don't know how one could possibly rationally get angry at another on the internet over a debate.

EvF

Anger is a good thing. I think it's healthy as long as you keep it in check and don't go over board by throwing furniture around and hitting people. People get mad, it's the nature of the beast. Especially when someone challenges them in what they think is true. Anger makes an ordinary boring discussion much more exciting As far a cursing goes, I'm guilty. I curse, my husband curses, my kids curse. We are one big cursing, angry family But we laugh a lot too.

(September 3, 2009 at 12:29 pm)binny Wrote: Anger is a good thing. I think it's healthy as long as you keep it in check and don't go over board by throwing furniture around and hitting people. People get mad, it's the nature of the beast. Especially when someone challenges them in what they think is true. Anger makes an ordinary boring discussion much more exciting As far a cursing goes, I'm guilty. I curse, my husband curses, my kids curse. We are one big cursing, angry family But we laugh a lot too.

I curse all the time even when I'm happy but I don't get mad over the internet. I'll debate things but that's about as far as it goes. I only really get mad if someone messes with my money or tries to screw me or my family over in some way. Those two things have to happen in real life...not over the net.

(September 3, 2009 at 8:38 am)EvidenceVsFaith Wrote: The last time I got even remotely angry on the internet was almost 6 years ago

Yeah your dead from the neck up

Swearing must be a fallacy - you're emphasizing a point by conjoining a swear word. My fucking point seems stronger than my point. Yet it isn't.

Swearing like Evie does littered though his posts, just puts me off what he's saying, because his excitement is obvious I conclude his rationality is pushed even further down his neck than usual.

Then there is threatening behaviour and bare aggression. Somehow this is an intrinsic right of any non believer on any non believing forum justified by the lifelong suffering and abuse that has to find some outlet. Bless.

I swear a lot, I try not to but I can't help it ... stupidity pisses me off!

Kyu

fr0d0, you're confusing correleaction with causation. Perhaps it is more likely that one is irrational if one swears in one's posts. But one can[ still be just as rational and still swear. Deal with my points, if I swear for expression, it doesn't kill my points if the points are still valid.

@ Binny, I agree that anger is healthy. But I'd say it's only healthy if it's genuine. If you don't feel anger in the first place, then faking it is just frustrating and pointless. So not feeling anger in the first place is ideal for me.

Indeed, repressed anger is unhealthy for instance. It's good to find an outlet. But to not have it in the first place, I think is better. This may be rare, so not 'normal' but that doesn't mean it's unhealthy in and of itself. Anger is healthy to let out but genuine happiness and/or peace of mind without anger in the first place, I think is better

EvF

I think it would be better as well, alas most of us cannot live that way, and therefore our ventilation of that anger is usually healthier than not doing so for us.

And what has swearing to do with rationality?

Absoulutely fuck-all (at least in and of itself).

EvF