Why do so many people argue so often so pointlessly?

[Five_Inch_Heels]

On and on, day after day, thread upon thread, back and forth, ying and yang with no possibility of either side convincing the other?


How does the same chicken keep crossing the road so many times during rush hour without getting run over?

 

[TheLobster]

No, we don’t.

 

[AwkwardMD]

A genocide being committed in real time upon our livers

 

[OverconfidentSarcasm]

On and on, day after day, thread upon thread, back and forth, ying and yang with no possibility of either side convincing the other?


How does the same chicken keep crossing the road so many times during rush hour without getting run over?

I take it you never had a friend who was part of the school's debate team?

 

[AwkwardMD]

It isn't new. Watch this. John Bois does a better job of summing it up than I can, and gesturing at his work often is my way of trying to slow down some of the fires here.

Alas, I am just one woman.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

^^ Should I hold your beer?

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I take it you never had a friend.

That's about it.

 

[SimonDoom]

"An argument isn't simply contradiction."

"It can be."

 

[BillyWalrus]

Some people really enjoy arguing.

 

[BossingBoy88]

On and on, day after day, thread upon thread, back and forth, ying and yang with no possibility of either side convincing the other?


How does the same chicken keep crossing the road so many times during rush hour without getting run over?

It is often through pointless debates that we humans discover thoughtful answers to profound questions...

 

[crookedletter]

It's a valid question as to how or why anyone might expect to change someone's mind in such arguments, or why people let themselves get so frustrated/angry when that expectation inevitably isn't met. But as for the arguments themselves, they can be an amusing diversion, until they're not.

And you never know: each salvo in an internet argument comes with the minute but tantalizing possibility that you might garner that holy grail of responses: "Huh. I've never thought of it that way. You've done it, you've cracked it. I will now convert to your cause, and worship at the shrine of your superior intelligence." It's worth a shot, right?

 

[HordHolm]

No, we don’t.

Oh yes, we do!

(He's behind you!)

 

[Rob_Royale]

A question I have pondered since the invention of the internet forum. I'm a big fan of forums and I used to get pulled into many an argument, but it got pretty old after a while. I don't even bother anymore.

 

[StillStunned]

I don't argue pointlessly. It's the people who disagree with me who do.

 

[NuclearFairy]

I don't argue pointlessly. It's the people who disagree with me who do.

I don't think it's pointless when it brings out so many fun puns.

 

[HordHolm]

I don't argue pointlessly. It's the people who disagree with me who do.

No they don't.

 

[HordHolm]

But seriously... one part of it is, as Terry Pratchett pointed out, that people are so busy making their next argument that they don't really hear/read the argument their antagonist is making.

 

[StillStunned]

More seriously than my previous reply, I blame all those debate classes. Arguments aren't an opportunity to discover another perspective and maybe change your mind anymore. Instead, they've become about scoring points and never conceding anything.

If you've ever followed a discussion where posters start tossing around terms like strawman or ad hominem, you know it's not about the merits anymore, it's become about winning.

 

[SebastianHolt]

On and on, day after day, thread upon thread, back and forth, ying and yang with no possibility of either side convincing the other?


How does the same chicken keep crossing the road so many times during rush hour without getting run over?

Especially over politics.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

"And nobody's right if everybody's wrong"


"When everyone's talking and no one is listening, how can we decide?"

 

[caleb35]

No, we don’t.

I'm sorry, is this a five minute argument, or the full half hour?

 

[GuiltyCowboy]

It’s mostly enjoyable (and amazing) to hear what other people think.

 

[StillStunned]

Lots of people betraying their age with the Python references. And the lack of anything else from then that was worth remembering.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Mine may be pre-Monty.


'66 and '82, so a split.

 

[SerenaSteeleMonroe]

It's my party, and I'll argue if I want to
Argue if I want to, Argue if I want to
You would Argue too if it happened to you