PnR Decorum and suspensions

[Dill]

(07-15-2017, 03:27 AM)JustWinBaby Wrote: Kind of agree with Lucie here....

You should be allowed to insult people who deserve it.  If you have a really stupid point - you ARE stupid (or at least very ignorant).

Lucie didn't say people should be allowed to insult others who "deserve" it.

Stupidity and ignorance are not wholly subjective matters of opinion. Their presence is usually demonstrable, and if demonstrated, enough said.

But in discussions of politics or religion, people who call others "stupid" or "ignorant" outright in default of demonstration are up to something else.  Some think they can't be stupid themselves if they call someone else that. Others turn to personal invective precisely when they cannot follow or rebut an argument that has been made.  So the name calling expresses a feeling they cannot control, or hides ignorance, or forestalls further embarrassment, since invective usually kills discussion.

Personal invective is not performative speech. You don't make someone stupid by calling him that, and you don't establish your own credentials for deciding who is stupid or not.  I don't doubt that for some posters, calling others names produces a  feeling of satisfaction, even accomplishment, but no really "superior" person would accept that feeling over the real thing--and would feel no pressing need ever to call anyone stupid, however apparently deserving.

Were name calling more widely recognized as default and impotence, the Mods would have much less work to do and our forum threads would become more exciting and informative, and enjoy more participation.