I learned from two Echomail conferences that were quite busy, and quite contentious to think about everything I thought I knew differently. I read the arguments back and forth in Politics and the people arguing in there were not just democrats and republicans, but libertarians and socialists as well. They would pick apart an issue, arguing back and forth. I was very interested because on most issues of the day I had not been following or paying attention, as I was working and raising teens. My daughter was not interested, and spent her time on the computer chatting with folks, or writing interactively with strangers, and discovering poetry.
I, on the other hand, learned what a logical fallacy is. I then researched and discovered how many are constantly being used in these discussions. I noticed, too, that while one side would argue facts and history, the other invariably seemed to twist, get emotional, or use ad hominem attacks to change the subject, or withdraw. After a while, I was even able to discover that side was the left. Libertarians came at everything from a much more even approach, and the right was very factual, and highly accurate, pointing out where language was being used to change a meaning of what was said, injecting adjectives where they were clearly leading. Without those adjectives or adverbs, or without the inclusion of some phony motivation, “because” statements, things read completely differently. I could read a clearly reported description on an event and form my own impression of what occurred, rather than having the writer tell me what to think about it.
Made a big impression on me. I realized I wanted to know facts, and make up my own mind. It was an eye opening experience, and I wish young folks had this chance today to wake up to how they are being manipulated by language. We might all be happier as a result.
Controv was another conference in which flame wars were a constant daily occurrence. Flame wars were interesting. I could read for quite a while, get all sides of a hot issue or controversy, and sit back and make up my own mind who was making or forming the more sensible arguments. It was an education. Today, on places like twitter, everyone is so focused on having their say, they aren’t “listening.” And following a discussion thread is close to impossible.
Yesterday, someone blocked me, and made a thread impossible to follow, as I had no idea what was being argued anymore. And people jump in who weren’t involved, and you get lost. Read a response, and have no idea what they are responding to, so why bother?
A real forum is a different story. I like forums. Freerepublic.com has been one of my favorite hangouts forever!
