How-to with FNG. Episode 1: How-to talk politics on a message board.
Good afternoon everybody and welcome to How-to with FNG. This is our first show, and I hope you're all as excited as I am. Our first episode is on political threads on the TGR message board. As many of you know, they can be quite tricky if not handled properly. Hopefully, this guide will help you keep your political threads from turning into stupid flame wars.
Step 1: It's only the internet. Don't get emotionally invested in your post. Someone's going to disagree with you. Don't take it personally.
Step 2: If you have a point, prove it. Show some evidence if you've got it. If it's just a theory, present it as one. Don't expect people to take your opinion as fact.
Step 3: Ignore the bullshit. Ignore the trolls. Ignore the aliases (aliai). Ignore flames. Ignore the name calling.
Step 4: Same rules apply when replying. Pick a point, quote, and make a reasonable and defendable statement.
Step 5: Try to be open-minded, and consider the other view. When you realize it's full of shit, then say so. But give it a shot first. Most every opinion has its good and bad parts. Disagree with the bad parts, but don't forget to mention the good parts. Remember that pointing out one fallacy in someone's point does not make their entire statement invalid.
Step 6: Avoid logical fallacies. Statements like these are just silly:
I do X for a living, ergo I'm an expert on X.
I'm an expert on X, so everything I say about X is true.
X happened before Y, so X must have caused Y.
You disagree with me, so you must be stupid.
You are passionate about your differeing views, so you must be an asshole.
X lied once before so we can't believe him/her ever again.
X was wrong once before so he/she will be wrong every time now.
Majority rules makes it valid.
These are also silly:
Aggressive nit-picking.
Comparing apples to oranges.
Making analogies in an attempt to be clever when simply stating your point would get your idea across much clearer.
Character attacks - unless your thread is entitled "Bill Clinton is a sleeze-ball", bringing up his morality isn't relevent.
And the last step, step 7: Have fun! Enjoy the fact that in our respective countries and this internet place we can engage in political discussion. Use arguement constructively as a way to improve your ideas with points other people have said. Also, when being that other person, offer constructive criticism, not just "that's wrong and sucks." Don't let political arguement become simply a competition. Let the media handle that.
I hope you've all enjoyed our show, and hopefully learned something about how to engage in political discussion on the internet. We'll see you next time for another interesting and informative episode of How-to with FNG
