Latest Posts by tragedyofmedusa - Page 2
How to Argue Like an Asshole
Good evening, friends, let me tell you some Secrets on how to argue like (and with) assholes. I’m writing this because I keep running into a particular asshole, and I need to stop engaging with them, and so this is an instruction sheet for myself as well as you guys.
First, try to avoid assholes; they don’t deserve your time and energy. But, if an Argument is unavoidable, here are a few tips on how to emerge unscathed.
Let go of the idea that you’re going to win.
You’re not gonna win. Nobody wins in an argument with an asshole. But, on the other hand, you can make them lose. You can deprive them of their entertainment and their triumph.
How???
Do not present your side of this debate.
This is so counter-intuitive for most of us who believe in things like, oh, science, or real facts, or the idea that real facts can be determined by science. Here’s a cool terrible thing about humans: certainty has nothing to do with facts. And when people are certain, that is when they become assholes.
When someone’s only goal is to win an argument, any real evidence or facts you give them is just ammunition for them to turn against you.
You will not convince them. So what should you be doing?
Destroy their arguments.
This is a thing of joy, because it’s what assholes are used to doing. They are, at heart, morons who don’t know how to construct, only how to destroy.
I used to be super emotional about arguments like this. I couldn’t think of anything to say while the other person ranted on about their horrifying bigotry. Now I’m a lawyer, and I’ve learned to weaponize my essentially nitpicky nature. For money.
So here are some easy tactics you can remember and deploy:
- Make them define the words they use. Nitpick the definitions.
- Turn questions back on them. If they ask you “why do you believe x”, ask them why they believe y. If they pull some “I asked first” shit, ask them why they’re afraid to defend their beliefs.
- Call them emotional. If possible, pick out specific emotions. This is especially devastating when you’re debating a man, as he will get more emotional as a result.
- “Why is that funny? I don’t get it.” Making people explain mean jokes can be a delight; they just wilt the more you question them about the underlying assumptions.
- Laugh at any especially dumb shit. Like they use some slogan or catchphrase that’s obviously untrue, due to science, or essentially ridiculous, like “we’ve made America great again,” and you just blurt out laughing. If they get mad, tell them – oh, so sorry, I’ll shut up, I’m giving you the floor to talk about your beliefs. I’m respecting you. This is a goddamn power move. It gives you the high ground, and also the implied control over the situation. The floor belongs to you, but you are yielding it to someone because you can.
- If they make an awkward exit, let them. Especially if they call the discussion “political.” It means they’re feeling attacked. Graciously allow them to retreat with their tail between their legs. If they storm off, allow them to do that too. Congratulations; you’ve ended the argument and you don’t have to deal with it anymore.
Basically: hand the asshole a shovel, and let ‘em dig. Relieve yourself of the burden to convince them they are wrong, and just sour their fun instead.
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Additionally, these are the tactics that assholes use, consciously or subconsciously, all the time. Recognize them. Once you know what they are, you can become immune to the intimidation and belittling tactics.
Good luck.
Can't wait for the uniqueness of the holocaust to be a topic of importance in a political campaign in america in 2024. That's how it should be. That's normal
MANIFEST
MANIFEST
The occupation targeted a school housing displaced people in the Nuseirat camp, but failed to kill this child who lived under the rubble despite their planes, missiles, and criminality.
okay, so, I love all the posts that run off the assumption that humans are the most ridiculous sapient species in the galaxy
but what if it’s just the other way around
what if humans are notoriously straitlaced and obsessed with protocol. the bureaucrats of the stars.
which is obviously something we would constantly try to complain about and disprove only for some Alpha Centaurian to be like “Captain, your species formalized spirituality, repeatedly, and a recurring theme therein is that the heavens themselves are run as a bureaucracy. Even your rebellions and revolutions are meticulously planned.”
it’s not a bad thing, per se, to have a human on your team — analytical minds, good diplomats (if only because one human etiquette system can be more complex and even contradictory than the vastly varied customs of an entire species) — but be prepared for them to call attention to moral quandaries and loopholes that never would have occurred to you.
and speaking of loopholes, do be careful, because the only thing worse than a human armed with an ironclad system of rules is a human who’s found a gaping hole in them.
May your next period be light and end quickly
Two years?! I’m in!
"Hamas uses civilians as human shields" just means "We have identified the Hamas members who are among civilians and instead of conducting ground invasion and precision kills, we decide to just blow up everyone"
so I got into grad school today with my shitty 2.8 gpa and the moral of the story is reblog those good luck posts for the love of god
It's actually really frightening to see officially sanctioned genocide denial rise up in Western countries in real time. Like, I remember 20 years ago hearing about how it was illegal in Turkey to point out that the Armenian Genocide happened, and how I thought that that was fucking evil and oppressive. Now here we are, with a campaign in Gaza that experts have called 'a textbook case of genocide', for which the UN Human Rights counsel has determined there are "reasonable grounds" to call it genocide, and the US Congress is trying to make it illegal to criticize Israel. We have Hollywood agencies refusing to represent anyone who points out that a genocide is currently taking place. And it's just the same shit from a fresh asshole as we got from the Turkish government over what happened in Armenia in the 1920s, like "Oh yes, there were killings, but...calling it genocide? Ohhhh, you must be very hateful to our poor little nation to think that our people are capable of that 😢 😭!" Fuck off.
just watched a Palestinian baby die in his mother's arms. it was unbearable, scarcely believable, the abject and incessant cruelty they both had been subjected to by the entity and its forces of terror. worse still was the mourning, preserved on tape for a voyeuristic perverse world incapable and inadequate, failing them every step of the way.
i shudder hearing her pleas for her child to wake up. she shook him like a rag doll, begging him. children like Mustafa have been starved, burnt, mutilated, shredded, shot, crushed, tortured, raped, violated infinitely and entirely by the iof and amerikkkan military.
how do you sleep at night, knowing you will live and are perhaps already living among monsters who will return to society after taking pride and delight in the commission of such countless atrocities? how do you look at your own children after condoning all of this? is it because their children are subhuman to you, the superior race?
where do Palestinians take their grief and pain and anger? I am going mad with helplessness and my own inadequacy. Are you not? Are you not?
An eyewitness account of the heinous massacre carried out by Israel and America
These people need to be tried for genocide
Spain, Norway and Ireland have announced plans to formally recognize a Palestinian state, in a move that is likely to bolster the global Palestinian cause but strain relations with Israel. Palestinian statehood has been recognized by more than 130 out of 193 member states of the United Nations, according to the Palestine Liberation Organization. “Today, Ireland, Norway and Spain are announcing that we recognize the state of Palestine. Each of us will now undertake whatever national steps are necessary to give effect to that decision,” Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris told a news conference in Dublin. The recognition will come into force in all three countries on May 28, Irish foreign minister Micheál Martin said. Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said the war in Gaza has “made it clear that achieving peace and stability must be predicted on resolving the Palestinian question.” “In the midst of a war, with tens of thousands killed and injured, we must keep alive the only alternative that offers a political solution for Israelis and Palestinians alike: Two states, living side by side, in peace and security,” Støre said. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said: “We will recognize the state of Palestine for peace, coherence and justice.”
Hind's Hall is a dope song, its been age restricted and censored by youtube because of course, but its a good song but also is a scathing diss on just the whole system that allows for such violence to take place and ignores it.
Also all the proceeds of the song go to UNRWA.
"I'm tryna see a ceasefire fuck a response from Drake"
Macklemore is at least one musician I can say I respect.
cruelty is so easy. youre not special for choosing it
I’ve seen several media outlets trying to claim that the UN has ‘quietly’ halved the number of Palestinian women and children killed since October 7th. Some have gone so far as to allege that Hamas fabricated the original numbers to try and cover for the 1:1 ratio of insurgents to civilians killed.
They’ve chosen to ignore the fact that the UN published a completely separate report, comprised of individuals whose remains have been identified.
The UN has clarified that the total number of women and children killed in Gaza since October 7th remains unchanged.
so yeah it turns out at least half the country are disgusting psychopaths who want to see college kids beaten and arrested for peaceful protests. i've never been more disgusted to be american in my life.
[original post that sof's library (@/folkoftheshelf) is reacting to: Globe Eye News reports: "White House says no "genocide" happening in Gaza." May 13, 2024]
