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Is it just not worth it sometimes?
June 24, 2014 at 11:55 am
Do you have a point at which an argument is simply over or not worth it? Or will you keep driving a point even when you don’t think the other party is being intellectually honest/interested in a discussion? I’ve seen a couple of arguments on this site (and others) where I believe one side is absolutely disinterested in addressing logic or evidence, and I wonder why people keep engaging in that discussion. Is it just not worth it sometimes?
In every country and every age, the priest had been hostile to Liberty.
- Thomas Jefferson
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RE: Is it just not worth it sometimes?
June 24, 2014 at 11:56 am
There are probably more lurkers than posters. Consider it an extended cut for the audience.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Is it just not worth it sometimes?
June 24, 2014 at 11:59 am
(June 24, 2014 at 11:56 am)Rhythm Wrote: There are probably more lurkers than posters. Consider it an extended cut for the audience.
I suppose, yeah. Just really frustrating at times I guess. And I wish there was a way to see if it's helping those lurkers.
In every country and every age, the priest had been hostile to Liberty.
- Thomas Jefferson
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RE: Is it just not worth it sometimes?
June 24, 2014 at 1:06 pm
(June 24, 2014 at 11:55 am)FatAndFaithless Wrote: I’ve seen a couple of arguments on this site (and others) where I believe one side is absolutely disinterested in addressing logic or evidence, and I wonder why people keep engaging in that discussion. Is it just not worth it sometimes? It's not worth it a lot of the time. Some people just can't drop an argument or have to get the last word in. Once I think that the various sides in a discussion have made their case and it seems that we're starting to go in circles, I just shrug my shoulders and let it go. There was a time when I needed to get the last word, but growing up took care of that a fair number of years ago.
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould
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RE: Is it just not worth it sometimes?
June 24, 2014 at 1:15 pm
(June 24, 2014 at 11:56 am)Rhythm Wrote: There are probably more lurkers than posters. Consider it an extended cut for the audience.
Exactly!
I've been contacted by several 'lurkers' over the years that have been shown, through debates, that their beliefs were irrational, that they held them for bad reasons.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
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RE: Is it just not worth it sometimes?
June 24, 2014 at 1:18 pm
Quote:Do you have a point at which an argument is simply over or not worth it?
Yes. If a theist is stupid enough I simply abuse them for my own amusement.
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RE: Is it just not worth it sometimes?
June 24, 2014 at 1:22 pm
I recall the first time I appreciated the 'never give in' mindset. I had a roommate many years ago in an apartment I rented. I rented and put my name on the lease for 1 'whole' unfurnished apartment with appliances.
'John' wanted to pay 1/2 of the rent I owed, but I pointed out, except for his clothes and some personal items, 'John' was renting 1/2 of a FURNISHED apartment, he brought no chairs, tables, rugs, curtains, kitchen items, etc. at all.
He would never concede 1/2 of the rent I paid was unfair to me, and a bonus for him.
He didn't stick around too long.
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RE: Is it just not worth it sometimes?
June 24, 2014 at 10:37 pm
It's not a coincidence that one side of a religious discussion must be illogical.
In fact, if they are to be true believers, it's mandatory!
That's why we have coherent conversations amongst ourselves.
I don't mind ...I quickly bond with "cat" people. Hehe
No God, No fear.
Know God, Know fear.
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RE: Is it just not worth it sometimes?
June 24, 2014 at 10:42 pm
SOmetimes I give up arguing when someone just ignores what you have to say and just keeps repeating the same bullshit, especially when it's been discredited.
Playing Cluedo with my mum while I was at Uni:
"You did WHAT? With WHO? WHERE???"
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RE: Is it just not worth it sometimes?
June 24, 2014 at 10:42 pm
(June 24, 2014 at 11:55 am)FatAndFaithless Wrote: Do you have a point at which an argument is simply over or not worth it? Or will you keep driving a point even when you don’t think the other party is being intellectually honest/interested in a discussion? I’ve seen a couple of arguments on this site (and others) where I believe one side is absolutely disinterested in addressing logic or evidence, and I wonder why people keep engaging in that discussion. Is it just not worth it sometimes?
I agree with the majority of posters above that it's worth having the conversation in public, like this forum, because of the lurkers. But, having the same conversation in person, one on one is probably not worth it unless you think they are really on the edge.
If there is a god, I want to believe that there is a god. If there is not a god, I want to believe that there is no god.
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