The Loss of Critical Thinking

February 28, 2020 Longrider Humour, misanthropy, sophistry, Writing & Language 20

Or, perhaps, just hard-of-thinking idiots on the Internet.

I got involved in a discussion about the new BMW f900XR. One commeter asked a perfectly reasonable question about comparisons with the Yamaha Tracer. So, having owned one for around eight months and having owned a BMW F800GT and having decided to replace this with the new XR, I felt that I could assist.

What happened next is similar to the experience that Sargon had when responding to morons on Facebook. Sheldon obviously prefers the Yamaha, which is fair enough. However, as is often the case with these discussions, he has to justify it. The statement that you save thousands of pounds choosing the Yamaha is false. BMW have pitched their XR at the same market, so the price is similar. Depending on customer choices, you are looking at between £9.5k and £12k. Again, depending on choices, you may well pay more for the Yamaha. So I made the point that owning this bike I could make a comparison with the BMW. It’s also worth mentioning at this point that two of my colleagues who also own Yamahas have expressed the same disappointment with the finish. Because, so far, I assumed (yeah, I know) that I was dealing with someone of basic intelligence.

And the response to this resonable response?

Yup, straight to the ad hom. Not once did this cretin respond to the points I’d made. Not once did he refer to the fact that I’d refuted his falsehood, he went straight to the go to response of the moron – a personal attack. At which point he’d lost the argument as he had nothing else to offer. But you know, I can be a bit stubborn (What? Really? – Ed). So I listed some of the differences that are offered by BMW yet are absent on the Yamaha even if you buy the fully specified example. Consequently making the point – again – that you won’t save thousands of pounds by choosing one over the other.

 

And the response was a reasoned argument refuting these facts, of course.

Of course not, silly me. Another ad hom. So, when faced with facts, reason and logic, Sheldon has nothing to offer. I did rebut this by making the same point again, that the bikes are similarly priced so his statement was false, but as it’s repeating myself, there’s not much point going over it again here as you get the message.

While this was just a silly argument about bikes, it does underline something that I’ve noticed increasingly with online discussions. I find it frustrating that you cannot have a discussion that is confined to reason, facts and logic. Logical fallacies fly about with abandon. People make statements that are demonstrably untrue and when called out on them simply resort to insult as Sheldon has here.

What has been lost here, and I offer the above as a microcosm of the symptom, is critical thinking. It seems to have vanished and if you try to apply it, you are faced with precisely the sort of response I got here. Sheldon is arguing his feelings and opinions and when the facts contradict them, he puts his fingers in his ears and shouts insults. Not once does he engage with the argument being made or the facts that refute his claims. He is incapable of differentiating between his opinions and facts – of what is in his head and reality. He would appear to be in the majority.

Sheldon is a dick. Don’t be like Sheldon.

20 Comments

  1. As you demonstrate, there is no point in arguing on the ‘net. It’s almost like trying to teach a pig to sing. 🙂

  2. Is it that some people are unable to admit to ever being wrong? Even when their position has been comprehensively refuted they can’t back down. This is stupid in itself, nobody knows everything and we are all going to be wrong sometimes. The inability to admit it just means that you never learn anything and just stay wrong.

  3. Best just to state your opinion and leave it there, I don’t think there is anything to be gained by an online argument.

    There are some good videos about WW2 aircraft on YouTube. Very rarely does a comment add to the content, they very quickly descend into ‘our’ planes were better than ‘yours’ and worse.

    It is also pretty clear than many people obviously don’t read comments anyway, the video might say ’em’ ‘kay’ ‘four’ and then twenty-odd viewers will say ‘mark’ as if they have spotted something no-one else has!

    Some kitchens are best left out of, or at least only visited once!

    • This is fair comment. That said, I also feel that falsehoods should be countered. I won’t convince idiots like Sheldon, but any casual readers will see an alternative perspective.

  4. I like a good debate on the internet, but they seem to be a thing of the past now, replaced with an argument. Even supposedly intelligent people like Richard Murphy, will argue a point you haven’t made, in order to declare victory

  5. You’ve pissed me off now with all this argument. I can’t afford either and if I could, probably couldn’t straddle it. See what you’ve done?

  7. I realise that we are dealing here with someone who has, it seems, inextricably mixed up his personal opinions with hard and undeniable facts (something which seems to be somewhat endemic these days) but I really just don’t “get” his snarky little comment on your suggestion that he “do the maths.” Maybe I’m just an old ‘un who doesn’t see what’s so terrible about that suggestion, but can anyone here enlighten me as to why that phrase “says it all” (in his opinion – again stated as a fact)? It almost looks as if he’s picked it out at random in order to cite it as “saying it all.” He could just as well have said “The price is much the same – says it all” or “tyre pressure warning – says it all” Or indeed picked out the start of any other sentence. So why that one? Any young folks able to enlighten me? As you can tell, I don’t “do” Twitter or Facebook or Instagram or anything like it, so perhaps I’m just a bit out of touch with what’s “in” and what’s “out” in Internet-land these days …….

    • I think that he is accusing me of being all about the figures and not the feels, which is untrue. If he was able to comprehend the argument I put forward, that much is obvious.

      However, I would also add that having followed his comments elsewhere on the thread, Sheldon Bourgeois does not appear to be very bright.

  8. Off topic I know but since I was severely injured in a motorcycle incident in 2015 and as a result don’t ride anymore ( more through fear that the partial paralysis, I was shunted from the rear by a kid texting on his mobile driving a van whilst I was on a small motorcycle ). I read about the newest electronic aides on the latest generation motorcycles and often wonder who is riding the bike?
    I am restoring a 1989 Honda VFR 750 R better known as the RC30. Back in the day it was the best handling production bike money could buy and when I rode it, I found that the forgiving nature of the bike allied with it’s rideability made falling off quite a distant likely hood, especially compared to my Kawasaki Z900 or other bikes of that ilk that I once owned.
    Whilst the chances of not sliding off in an unexpected situation, such as suddenly coming across a pile of gravel on a blind corner or great lumps of mud at a junction at night, are always present, it IS down to the rider to be aware and plan accordingly, not the engineer to lead the person riding the bike to absolve their responsibility.
    Ultimately I rode for enjoyment which included riding to work, riding at work, touring or just going for a spin. However except for a BMW K75 none of my machines had any sophisticated anti skid, slide, slip or whatever bells and whistles. Riding within your limits as well as the machines is a very pertinent issue when out on the roads and anything that can give you a false sense of security isn’t to be recommended.
    Can any of these electronic aides protect you from an imbecile with a mobile phone?

    • Short answer: No.

      Longer answer is that all of these things have their uses. ABS won’t get you out of trouble caused by bad riding for example. It can, in certain circumstances help with control during hard braking. Traction control can help in some situations. None of these things replaces riding skills but they are of some use to the experienced rider. Like all things, learn to do it properly first.

      I do like the tyre pressure monitors. I had a front wheel puncture a couple of months back and they bike alerted me before the inevitable loss of front wheel control. Gave me time to pull over safely.

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