As of this blog entry I am coming up on six years of membership (06/22/19) in this Forum.
In the past I was happy with the fact that aside from two short-term additions (literally weeks between adding two people before removing them) during my first six months of membership, my ignore list was empty...right up until about 9 months ago when I added the first of a growing list of members I no longer care to hear from.
I removed those first two back in 2013 simultaneously within a few days of adding the second member because I realized I was over-reacting and felt I was not adhering to my desire to maintain an open mind.
I was happy to maintain an empty Ignore list for the next 4 years. However, starting in 2018 this became more and more difficult to do when one is constantly dealing with people who engage in tactics of moral panic. Incessant personal attacks, assailing my credibility, attempts to get me to "dox" myself by questioning my race, my educational credits, my professional experience, etc..
Anyone who has ever made even a cursory attempt to review my Forum post history (and is honest about it) would admit that I have steadfastly maintained my stated ideals and political positions (see: https://www.debatepolitics.com/blogs/captain-adverse/1391-time-re-introduce-myself.html ) firmly and honestly up to date. I intend to continue to do so as long as I remain a member.
But I will no longer waste time with members, old or new, whose preferred responses are to attack me personally rather than attack my positions or arguments. Such attacks serve to show that those members have no respect for me (or anyone else they do this to), all the while demanding respect in return for whatever they have to say. It also shows that they have no real argument and need to turn to fallacious responses trying to demonize the person in an attempt to undermine their credibility.
I will adhere to my previously listed reasons for not responding to posts:
1. I believe that I've made my point already and really don't feel like repeating it.
2. The post is fallacious in some way (emotional appeal, ad hominin, red herring, straw man, false dilemma, etc.) therefore trolling and I simply chose not to respond.
3. There is no real issue to respond to, it's just an opinion or an assertion I have no interest in.
However, I will add one more action... I will simply ignore those who consistently choose disrespect and denigration over reasonable discourse.
One will only know they are among that number if and when they realize that I have stopped responding to any posts they have made whether to me or anyone else, despite seeing me post elsewhere in the same or similar threads.
I am sorry to have come to the point where I feel it necessary to do this. Yet in the end it is also one of the actions allowed under free speech when one disagrees with what is being said...simply "vote with your feet" and let the person rant on to whomever thinks it remains worthwhile to listen.
Perhaps in the future, if and when such members calm down and seem more reasonable in their disagreement styles (at least to me), I will feel able to depopulate my Ignore List again.
Until that time, sad for me to say, my Ignore list is growing.
In the past I was happy with the fact that aside from two short-term additions (literally weeks between adding two people before removing them) during my first six months of membership, my ignore list was empty...right up until about 9 months ago when I added the first of a growing list of members I no longer care to hear from.
I removed those first two back in 2013 simultaneously within a few days of adding the second member because I realized I was over-reacting and felt I was not adhering to my desire to maintain an open mind.
I was happy to maintain an empty Ignore list for the next 4 years. However, starting in 2018 this became more and more difficult to do when one is constantly dealing with people who engage in tactics of moral panic. Incessant personal attacks, assailing my credibility, attempts to get me to "dox" myself by questioning my race, my educational credits, my professional experience, etc..
Anyone who has ever made even a cursory attempt to review my Forum post history (and is honest about it) would admit that I have steadfastly maintained my stated ideals and political positions (see: https://www.debatepolitics.com/blogs/captain-adverse/1391-time-re-introduce-myself.html ) firmly and honestly up to date. I intend to continue to do so as long as I remain a member.
But I will no longer waste time with members, old or new, whose preferred responses are to attack me personally rather than attack my positions or arguments. Such attacks serve to show that those members have no respect for me (or anyone else they do this to), all the while demanding respect in return for whatever they have to say. It also shows that they have no real argument and need to turn to fallacious responses trying to demonize the person in an attempt to undermine their credibility.
I will adhere to my previously listed reasons for not responding to posts:
1. I believe that I've made my point already and really don't feel like repeating it.
2. The post is fallacious in some way (emotional appeal, ad hominin, red herring, straw man, false dilemma, etc.) therefore trolling and I simply chose not to respond.
3. There is no real issue to respond to, it's just an opinion or an assertion I have no interest in.
However, I will add one more action... I will simply ignore those who consistently choose disrespect and denigration over reasonable discourse.
One will only know they are among that number if and when they realize that I have stopped responding to any posts they have made whether to me or anyone else, despite seeing me post elsewhere in the same or similar threads.
I am sorry to have come to the point where I feel it necessary to do this. Yet in the end it is also one of the actions allowed under free speech when one disagrees with what is being said...simply "vote with your feet" and let the person rant on to whomever thinks it remains worthwhile to listen.
Perhaps in the future, if and when such members calm down and seem more reasonable in their disagreement styles (at least to me), I will feel able to depopulate my Ignore List again.
Until that time, sad for me to say, my Ignore list is growing.