Originally posted by CliffLandinIt appears that RHP took offence to me making too many references on unrelated threads to HTTP://RHP-Ratings.BLOSPOT.com but I wont make that mistake again.
Since STANG is back and feels compelled to bring back his Spideman Power=Responsibility thread, I thought I would bring back my STANG thread.
Stang,
If you really want to compel people to believe your arguments, you have
to do better than repeat yourself over and over. You have to address the
issues that people bring up, the concerns they have, and have to provide
a foundation to rest your arguments upon.
Consider my posts criticizing my home country's invasion of Iraq. I have
raised issues and responded to the issues that the people with whom I
disagree have raised. Although frustrated, I was able to express what I
believed to be the most logical and/or accurate position because people
responded to me, giving me stepping stones for expression. That's what
good debate does: it gives a forum for the back-and-forth exchange of
ideas. As a result, many people can weigh the issues on both sides and
make informed decisions.
You don't do that. You post your ideas over and over and people just
respond with disdain, not dialogue. They don't give you stepping stones,
so you just repeat yourself (and the pattern repeats). Similarly, the few
people who have responded to your claims have not received answers in
response; just repetion. Thus, they, too, see the futility of discussing
things with you and either ignore or respond with disdain (and the pattern
repeats).
I understand that you are passionate about how you feel about Bush. But
passion and debate don't mix well. You need to focus that passion into
reason, you need to let your anger be an energy for driving you into
concentrated, constructive debate, not the broken-record, cut-and-paste
jobs you have done so far.
I write this in the improbable hopes that you will read it and think about it.
There are a lot of people here who likely share your views about Bush, but
find your mode of expressing it both tiring and counterproductive. You are
coming off as an extremist, rather than a rationalist with extreme opinions.
I write it publically rather than privately because I feel that there are people
here who agree with me but don't have the patience to write something.
There is plenty of room for your opinion here, but you need to make room
for those of other people. And, you need to be less fanatical about the way
in which you present your opinion if you ever want to be taken seriously.
If you really care about your cause, then you will strive to make your position
appreciable to all readers. And, if you do so and your opinions are truly the
most reasonable, you will find the people will begin to recommend your posts
rather than alert them.
Nemesio