I sometimes post updates in response to comments which I choose not to publish. I do this because the comments do not contribute to constructive discourse, but I want to illustrate a point about critical thinking. Here are some common categories of comments which I find not to be constructive.
1) Vocabulary quibbles. I once knew a guy who thought he was really smart, who thought he had a killer point: the concept of organic food is meaningless because "organic" means carbon compounds, and all food consists of carbon compounds. All words have a range of meanings. Purporting to refute an argument by insisting that some word has to be used with a particular meaning, and I used it the wrong way, is really, really stupid.
2) Arguments from popularity. Just because a lot of people believe something does not make it correct, and just because a lot of people voted for some candidate does not necessarily make that candidate worthy of office. In fact, most voters are not well informed about public policy or social problems, and a lot of them have biases, including being racist. Some of them even believe crazy shit about Satan-worshiping pedophile cannibals, or lizard people.
3) Argument by assertion. In general, people who write thoughtfully about politics and public affairs, or any subject really, marshal arguments that come to some conclusion. Just saying, "That's Fred's opinion, but I don't agree with it," is not worthy of being published. You have to point to a flaw in logic, or an error in fact, or a specific difference in values, in order to rebut an argument.
There are more categories of unpublishable comment, but those are a few I've particularly noticed lately. Please do not waste my time with dreck.
2 comments:
And just to elaborate, there is no requirement that any candidate garner your approval (or mine)on his views about race, culture, or anything else to make him/her worthy of any public office.
That is absurd. I am fully entitled to the opinion that someone is unworthy to hold office, regardless of whether they garnered a majority of votes. Many members of the Ku Klux Klan have been elected to office. Donald Trump was most certainly unworthy to hold public office of any kind, as is, for example, Marjorie Taylor Green and Madison Hawthorn. Sometimes people who have been elected to public office end up being expelled, or forced to resign.
I can support Democracy without having to approve of the outcome of every election. Furthermore, elections are often distorted by voter suppression, gerrymandering, misinformation, and other factors which I would want to see corrected.
I publish your comment only to note that it is utterly ridiculous and, frankly, just stupid.
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