Why is that everytime a question is asked concerning politics, name calling quickly ensues? Can we have an actual intellectual debate these days?
2006-10-09 19:02:23 · 13 answers · asked by renard04 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Politics
l guess we could have a political dialogue without the name calling but I think that in order to do so,we must address those who actually do have a valid opinion.
Unfortunately in a virtually unmediated forum such as this, some very uninformed juvenile types take great pleasure in showing off their ignorance. They think its "cool". Some of them don't even have the intellectual capability of forming an opinion and use the name calling as a smoke screen to hide this vast lack of knowledge.
Sorry pal, I think if you want to avoid the lunacy, you ought to look for an arena that actually cares who they let in.
Good luck.
The next two responders kinda make my point, wouldn't you say?
2006-10-09 19:03:33 · answer #1 · answered by Jack 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
If Yahoo Answers shows us one thing for sure, it is that when placing otherwise nice people as an anonymous person in an anonymous community, they have a greater tendency to be rude. And the rudeness crescendos most when the topic is political. That is, anonymity explains a lot of the rudeness. But the rudeness is much lower when the discussion is non-political. So politics is the other main factor.
It is fairly obvious why anonymity leads to greater rudeness.
...but why does politics? Why do people have a tendency to hate the other side, and think the worst of them? The also-obvious answer, I suppose, is that we're human, and evolved having great tribal affiliations, and were willing to kill non-tribal members without much moral worry. Political groupings tap into this ancestral nature of ours. But even sports-teams taps into this, and nearly any "team" situation can lead to such irrationalities.
I'd like to think that such irrationalities and hatreds-of-the-other-team in the case of a two-party system are not too harmful. Maybe people just need to feel part of a political team, and better to have them fighting with nasty rude political arguments than with spears. But, then again, the 20th century alone is filled with one to two hundred million dead people due to such political hatred going beyond words. So, perhaps nasty words and hatred in political debate is not so innocuous after all.
2006-10-10 02:27:52 · answer #2 · answered by A professor (thus usually wrong) 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The chances are slim on here. To be honest, Ive caught myself doing exactly what you say when someone has asked a simple benign question. Ive had to back up and rewrite the answer. Speaking only for myself, I get too wrapped up in this garbage and sometimes act out of character.
Bottom line is that people have strong convictions from both parties, feel they are 100% in the right and want to be heard. Of course, this is an impossibility; two people with opposing views cannot both be right normally.
2006-10-10 02:33:25 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
The only time I notice name calling is when a ridiculous question gets put on here. Intelligent, educated, well thought out questions are usually debated well.
I don't call anybody names, but I can be quite sarcastic with some of them
2006-10-10 02:06:12 · answer #4 · answered by katjha2005 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Truth springs from argument amongst friends. This is a quote by David Hume. I do not know why we cannot have an adult conversation sometimes on here. Thankfully sometimes we can. This is a reasonable question and my response is that often times ones passion about a subject leads to a loss of manners. I would just ignore anything that offends you and keep trying. We are out here. People wanting to have serious conversations. Peace.
2006-10-10 02:16:44 · answer #5 · answered by frogspeaceflower 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No people are too immature right now. Plus this is definitely a time of high tension between the two big political parties.
2006-10-10 02:26:36 · answer #6 · answered by Walty 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think when it comes to politics, it doesn't matter what side of the issue you are on, the other side seems to think they are right. And the only way to prove their point is to make someone else feel less superior, that way they will back down. A political question can be asked, but if you aren't asking an open-minded person, you will get the name calling
2006-10-10 02:06:05 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 2⤋
Intellect? What the heck is that? This nation is spiraling down in terms of education levels. Look at the most popular TV shows, most all of them reality TV. We are a nation that is being dumbed down. Heck the Prez can't even pronounce most words correctly. Nucular? Profileration? Huh?
2006-10-10 02:44:51 · answer #8 · answered by hawk79 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
If we could communicate without namecalling, we would be taking the first step necessary to actually make progress toward a better world.
2006-10-10 03:02:09 · answer #9 · answered by Dee M 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I think a Senator was reported to have said something very similar just before the fall of Rome. History may repeat it's self if we don't all stop arguing about stupid issues and get down to taking back our country from the illegal invaders, building up our forces and preparing for WW!!! Long live America.
2006-10-10 02:09:53 · answer #10 · answered by White Knight 3 · 2⤊ 3⤋