I just feel more and more it’s a cheap excuse to dismiss debate out of hand rather then confront an uncomfortable truth.

I just don’t buy that anyone online cares if someone is arguing in good or bad faith

  • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
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    13 hours ago

    It only matters insofar as time invested.

    If someone is just fucking around, trolling, baiting, or deliberately trying to spread some kind of propaganda in the guise of “just talking”, it’s annoying as fuck to spend fifteen minutes writing up a considered and meaningful comment. Sometimes it’s worth it anyway, if only to leave it for anyone coming along later, but it’s still a giant waste of effort that could could have been spent on someone or something genuine.

    That doesn’t include someone playing devil’s advocate though. That’s fine, though it’s good manners to say so up front.

    The line can be a little blurry at times, obviously. Some folks just don’t engage with others well. But most of the time, it’s fairly obvious within one or two exchanges that someone is fucking with you, or they’re just really bad at engagement and discussion.