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RE: I Don't Understand People Who Are Against Blocking on Facebook
Much like political debate, online debate is usually about scoring points, playing to the audience, and showing how right you are.
There probably are people online who are capable of a proper discussion, aimed at information exchange, learning, and getting a better idea of what's what, and reaching a conclusion. There must be, surely. Somewhere.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve come across a few. But very few and far between they are.
They should be muted. No place for such folk on the interwebs. Old-school folk on a hip medium. Can't have that.
I guess my whole thing is, I’ve grown past the point of needing to show anyone how right I am.
I don’t give a toss, really.
I’m right very often. I make a difference never.
Nobody knows what really goes on anyway, in any field. All we have is models of reality. I try to find models that work well in practice, and if a better model presents itself, I'll adopt it. If a model fails to predict well, I reject it.
Don't care much if I support the "right" model, and I can live with not having a model that works in some fields; much better than just making something up and being religious about it. I can accept there are no working economic models, for instance. Doesn't keep me awake at night.
I do like coming up with models that work and that let me build things that work, there is that; that's where a difference can be made. Not sure how to make a difference in other ways, most certainly not by just being "right", and least of all by shouting about it.
Have I been muted yet?
Anyway, not feeling the urge to show you're right all the time does make for a more pleasant life, I think. And proving someone wrong is only important if you like someone and the consequences of their being wrong are severe. But I suppose it is called "trying to help" then.