Some websites are nice. You can discuss ideas freely and it's assumed that what you typed will be read.
Forget that dream though, because most forums are filled with ADD teenagers and intellectually lazy adults. Points that need exposition are only accepted at the assertion level, so you get arguments like "all dogs are fat. you're dumb. police like donuts. [etc]"--the moment that "because" goes in there it's like an Anti-Supporting Argument Shield is activated in the brains of your readers.
Because you're a name on a screen it's very hard to change the way they think, so you just have to deal with them. In my time, I've found a few strategies that consistently work. Here's some ways to trick people into listening to you:
1. If you quote someone in a reply, do it two times at max.
When I was 15, I thought I was very good at arguing. Actually, I was just very good at being right. Quote trees always happen from people who care more about the comforting feeling they get from feeling right.
Quote-reply-quote-reply, by the 3rd reply, muddles the discussion so much that eventually the only people reading it are you and the person you're arguing with. At that point you're just arguing to squash any doubt that you may not be better than the other guy, not to convince anyone.
Obviously, you have to abandon the OCD urge to address everything they said. Which brings me to:
2. Only address VERY key points.
Your opponent doesn't give a crap about what you said and just wants to indulge himself. If you address everything it's more likely he'll screw up your points and come out with some atrocious misinterpretation of what you meant; then you're stuck combating a strawman.
But! If you only mention two or three points, he's pretty much forced to listen to you.
Take this very paragraph for example. Even though its purpose is to explain why each technique works, few people will read it. That's why I bolded everything in list format.
3. Put the important crap first and the most important crap last.
When you learn to write essays, your first paragraph is always most important. On here, it's not. Unless you said something they really object to, they will almost always respond to the very last part of what you said.
This is because forum idiots are hopelessly knee-jerk and act like naggy girls who jump on the last few words of your sentence during a verbal argument. Ask yourself "if I had to get across one thing here, what thing do I REALLY want to get across?" and then make that last.
So, in summary.
1. If you quote someone in a reply, do it two times at max.
2. Only address VERY key points.
3. Put the important crap first and the most important crap last.
Forget that dream though, because most forums are filled with ADD teenagers and intellectually lazy adults. Points that need exposition are only accepted at the assertion level, so you get arguments like "all dogs are fat. you're dumb. police like donuts. [etc]"--the moment that "because" goes in there it's like an Anti-Supporting Argument Shield is activated in the brains of your readers.
Because you're a name on a screen it's very hard to change the way they think, so you just have to deal with them. In my time, I've found a few strategies that consistently work. Here's some ways to trick people into listening to you:
1. If you quote someone in a reply, do it two times at max.
When I was 15, I thought I was very good at arguing. Actually, I was just very good at being right. Quote trees always happen from people who care more about the comforting feeling they get from feeling right.
Quote-reply-quote-reply, by the 3rd reply, muddles the discussion so much that eventually the only people reading it are you and the person you're arguing with. At that point you're just arguing to squash any doubt that you may not be better than the other guy, not to convince anyone.
Obviously, you have to abandon the OCD urge to address everything they said. Which brings me to:
2. Only address VERY key points.
Your opponent doesn't give a crap about what you said and just wants to indulge himself. If you address everything it's more likely he'll screw up your points and come out with some atrocious misinterpretation of what you meant; then you're stuck combating a strawman.
But! If you only mention two or three points, he's pretty much forced to listen to you.
Take this very paragraph for example. Even though its purpose is to explain why each technique works, few people will read it. That's why I bolded everything in list format.
3. Put the important crap first and the most important crap last.
When you learn to write essays, your first paragraph is always most important. On here, it's not. Unless you said something they really object to, they will almost always respond to the very last part of what you said.
This is because forum idiots are hopelessly knee-jerk and act like naggy girls who jump on the last few words of your sentence during a verbal argument. Ask yourself "if I had to get across one thing here, what thing do I REALLY want to get across?" and then make that last.
So, in summary.
1. If you quote someone in a reply, do it two times at max.
2. Only address VERY key points.
3. Put the important crap first and the most important crap last.
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