So why would this Serious Thinker feel the need to reject, on sight, my comments from appearing, and then advertise it?
You don’t think your making a horrible impression on people you argue with may have anything to do with it? ;)
Seriously, that would be my first hypothesis. “You don’t catch flies with vinegar.” Go enough out of your way to antagonize people even as you’re making strong rebuttals to their weak arguments, and you’re giving them an easy way out of listening to you.
The nicer you are, the harder you make it for others to dismiss you as an asshole. I’d count that as a good reason to learn nice. (If you need role models, there are plenty of people here who are consistently nice without being pushovers in arguments—far from it.)
The evidence against that position is that Callahan, for a while, had no problem allowing my comments on his site, but then called me a “douche” and deleted them the moment they started disagreeing with him. Here’s another example.
Also, on this post, I responded with something like, “It’s real, in the sense of being an observable regularity in nature. Okay, what trap did I walk into?” but it was diallowed. Yet I wouldn’t call that comment rude.
It’s not about him banning me because of my tone; he bans anyone who makes the same kinds of arguments, unless they do it badly, in which case he keeps their comments for the easy kill, gets in the last word, and closes the thread. Which is his prerogative, of course, but not something to be equated with “being interested in meaningful exchange of ideas, and only banning those who are rude”.
About “Silas-free zones” you blogged:
You don’t think your making a horrible impression on people you argue with may have anything to do with it? ;)
Seriously, that would be my first hypothesis. “You don’t catch flies with vinegar.” Go enough out of your way to antagonize people even as you’re making strong rebuttals to their weak arguments, and you’re giving them an easy way out of listening to you.
The nicer you are, the harder you make it for others to dismiss you as an asshole. I’d count that as a good reason to learn nice. (If you need role models, there are plenty of people here who are consistently nice without being pushovers in arguments—far from it.)
The evidence against that position is that Callahan, for a while, had no problem allowing my comments on his site, but then called me a “douche” and deleted them the moment they started disagreeing with him. Here’s another example.
Also, on this post, I responded with something like, “It’s real, in the sense of being an observable regularity in nature. Okay, what trap did I walk into?” but it was diallowed. Yet I wouldn’t call that comment rude.
It’s not about him banning me because of my tone; he bans anyone who makes the same kinds of arguments, unless they do it badly, in which case he keeps their comments for the easy kill, gets in the last word, and closes the thread. Which is his prerogative, of course, but not something to be equated with “being interested in meaningful exchange of ideas, and only banning those who are rude”.