FACT - People Need Sound to Live : How to Properly Argue Online

 For this blog post, I am going to be talking about an argument that happened in the comments section of a Facebook page a while ago. Argument: https://www.india.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/315.jpg. I am not including the screenshot here because, as a warning, it is rather… uh… not kid-friendly to put it lightly.


I chose to talk about this argument because I felt it displayed two rather clear types of arguments. It is a rather short argument, but one person has a much clearer ability to use logic and has an actual basis for his position. The initial post stated that the movie The Martian looked rather unrealistic and not to his taste. A second person responded by explaining where the logic behind the movie came from and it is actually very realistic. The original person then responded by saying it was not because humans need sound to live, and there is no sound in space. 


There are many things wrong with this argument, but I will stick to the main concerns I have. The initial post, and every consecutive post by this same man following, contained numerous grammatical errors demonstrating a lack of education. The second person involved in the argument, however, uses proper punctuation and grammar rules as well as supports his argument with valid information. The second major problem I have is that both sides of the argument resulted in insults thrown at each other but in different ways. The uneducated man used an offensive slur and gave an overall feeling of passive-aggressiveness through cursing and his other language. The responder used some more clever ways of insulting instead of resorting straight to name-calling. My final major issue with this argument is that no side really cites much if any evidence at all. Given, the original response cited the book for his rebuttal. However, beyond that, he only used common sense as his rebuttals. The man who started the post stuck to his main claim, that humans need sound to survive, without any support of this claim. He also refused to listen to the rebuttals of his argument and resorted to vulgar language and aggression. 


Here is how I think people should actually argue online 

  1. Be respectful. When someone rebuttals your claim or a piece of evidence, accept this as simply that. Do not take it as ill-intent and start getting heated in your responses.

  2. Be sure all your claims are backed up by evidence. Include a hyperlink to a source (reliable) that gives a study or data or otherwise supportive evidence. 

  3. Structure your responses in a manner that adds to your credibility. If you use no punctuation or incorrect grammar, no one is going to take you seriously. 

  4. Do not gang up on someone who has shared an unpopular opinion or idea. Instead, logically think about how to constructively refute their claims. Use professional language. Do not resort to slurs, or vulgar language because this displays you as aggressive and close-minded. 

  5. At the end of the debate, be sure to end on a good note. If the argument gets a little heated or is left on a bad note, the person you are arguing with will walk away having retained nothing you said. Instead, they will take everything you said and throw it in their mental garbage. Being rude will close one’s mind to new ideas and perspectives. Instead, thank them for a good debate and acknowledge their views. This is really important if you wish to have future discussions in a civil manner with them.

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