Intro Post

I've joined any of a number of websites, forums, and what have you over the years. I was present online on the old WWIV networks, and have been a continual pain in the ass to people since the late 1980s.

And for the record, I've quit almost all of them.

The more I deal with people, the more I simply want to retreat into my garage, or lurk online, and generally do stuff that doesn't involve other people. There's a well known psychological phenomenon that says you make up your mind first and then work damn hard at justifying it later. If anyone still disbelieves this notion, please visit any of a number of forums or usenet and you'll see it in action. My first role as Emperor of the planet will be to issue every human being with a T-shirt saying "My mind is made up. Don't annoy me with facts." That will lead to a much better inter-human understanding, from where I'm standing.

There are people who I've met along the way who've said they may never agree with me but they happen to like what I say. So I'll post it here, for anyone who wishes to read and comment. If past experience is anything to go by, people will either truly hate what they're gonna read, or really like it.

Okay, enough about me. Content.

What's annoying me today?

The latest trend I've found amongst people who wish to emulate the brighter people on the internet is the "cite your sources" rebuttal. Someone obviously got his or her tail kicked in by spouting off a bunch of nonsense which some astuter and brighter person shut down hard by suggesting a citation of sources. "Well, this guy who knows this guy" or some fake source that's debunked on Snopes is then laughed down.

Now, this is fair and good. And, if someone isn't truly trying to argue something, he or she will abandon the tack or task because the burden of looking it up will be too great. And then again, if he or she is running his or her mouth, it's truly evident once the source is cited.

But sometimes the citation comes back. Sometimes the person you challenge with this actually says "yeah, sure. Here."

Well, if you simply cut and pasted "cite your sources!" or "source please" from someone more intelligent... Oops.

What do you do now? Here's a hint to people who are looking to copy the intelligent arguer. If you arrived at "cite your sources" from seeing the card being played, here's the position to play once the source is in fact cited.

CORRECT RESPONSE: Disengage mouth and engage brain. Read the source. If you agree with it, take it from there. If you disagree, come back with a reasoned AND CITED rebuttal to the points made in the source.

INCORRECT RESPONSE: Attack the source. "Ugh! I can't believe you're reading XYZ!" Slipping into an ad hominem attack shows you as being someone emulating someone smarter, and not a proper debater.

And if you find yourself asked to cite a source and you do and someone comes back attacking the speaker and not the speech, PLEASE don't rise to the bait. You'll only encourage them.