Arguing With Idiots on the Internet

Seen over at the Free Speech Union’s FB page. I present for your delectation, the level of stupidity and lack of thinking ability of someone who decided to wade in on the recent Joe Rogan ‘misinformation’ bullshit. Bear in mind that my discussion here wasn’t an attempt to change this person’s mind – he would need one in order to be open to change. Rather, it was for the benefit of those people lurking who might be able to see the paucity of thinking as it is exposed.

So, here is his opening salvo followed by a somewhat pithy response.

I gave this individual a little more of a reasoned reply. That said, I did get a little less reasoned as time went on. As regulars here will know, I can be a bit terse when presented with foolishness.

What I’ve outlined here is a matter of fact – the free speech principle in a nutshell. This person clearly doesn’t understand it as his responses show:

While Jarvis’ summation was accurate, it was merely a statement. Engaging demonstrates just how much of a moron this man is and he is more than willing to provide the evidence.

Bear in mind, he has not so far refuted anything that I’ve said. Merely repeated his earlier ‘no.’ I’m also doing something that is a useful rhetorical tool and I use it again later. When someone is being general – such as using vague terms – pin them down to specifics and keep doing it. It usually pisses them off but it also has the benefit of showing up the paucity of their augment. It doesn’t matter that they will wriggle or simply avoid it. Anyone watching the discussion can see it and they are the target audience. Not once do I get a response to these specifics, because what we have here is a general attempt to censor dissenting voices. He cannot be specific. That’s the point.

Now we get to the crux of the matter. He wants to criminalise people who dare to voice wrong-think. The fact that it is currently legal isn’t the issue. He wants the law to be used to shut people up. Never mind that today’s misinformation might well turn out to be tomorrow’s breakthrough or that new evidence might change our perspective. This man is so hard of thinking that he lacks the intellectual capacity to understand that things might change. After all, the sceptics of two years ago are slowly being proven correct.

At this point, I became a little more robust. You can only be so polite when faced with such stupidity. What we then see is a shift in the argument. This is fairly typical with someone who is engaging in intellectual dishonesty. They start to shift the parameters of the argument, thinking that you won’t notice. Well, I’m a fairly seasoned player with this and I don’t play ball. Again, I want people reading to see what he is doing.

So we’ve gone from misinformation to woo. But as I point out, there’s nothing new about woo and you don’t ban it. Indeed, it would be like a virtual game of whack-a-mole. Not even worth the effort. A valid fact based argument will stand in its own right. Woo – such as flat earthism – fails at the first hurdle. Sunshine being the best bleach.

This is a fairly classic strawman as no one has actually said anything of the sort. Certainly people have expressed opinions that go against the narrative. It doesn’t follow that it is woo – or even that it is being presented as medical information. Opinions are just that, opinions and everyone is entitled to express them, right or wrong, no matter how accurate or how foolish. So I go back to my previous point. Be specific.

Of course I didn’t expect a response to these points. They were made to illustrate just how absurd his argument is. And it got even more absurd. Yes, dear reader, really, it did.

I told you this guy was stupid. So stupid that he is prepared to make an utter fool of himself on a public forum. It is clear that he has no grasp whatsoever of how scientific advances occur – how we now have modern surgery with anaesthetics and sterile equipment and environments instead of slicing open veins and letting the bad humours bleed out. The ‘moron’ allegation earlier was bang on the money. Sometimes, someone says something that is so staggeringly stupid, it almost leaves you speechless. Not me, though. I go in for the kill.

Oddly enough, I didn’t get a reply…

Edit: Looks like I spoke too soon. He just digs in deeper with the fallacies and the idea that not being qualified means you shouldn’t be allowed to speak.

He is one of those who thinks that ivermectin use is misinformation despite there being emerging evidence that it has antiviral qualities.

Edit 2: Today, he came back for more. Again, he demonstrates that he does not understand free speech. Again, he is applying religious orthodoxy in place of science.

The stupidity is one thing. The vile authoritarianism is off the scale. We proles must not debate that which is reserved for our better. What a piece of shit this man is.

Updated. This continued a couple of days later.