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sibelian

(7,804 posts)
10. You don't have to take their "arguments" seriously at all...
Sat Sep 21, 2013, 02:35 PM
Sep 2013

But for your contribution in a debate with them to remain rational you have to avoid making the observation that their arguments are stupid because it's them making them.

Naturally you can dismiss them out of hand without the necessity for rational debate. It's your life! And it's not much fun maintaining a rational stance with someone whose default position is "if it pisses of libearls it must be true". So nobody's going to hold it against you...

And, of course, calling the words of Coulter et al moronic and not worth the air used to utter them and consequently entirely to be ignored is a perfectly sensible position to adopt, whether it's rational, strictly speaking, or not. They are obviously twits.

Recommendations

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Ten Commandments of Rational Debate [View all] babylonsister Sep 2013 OP
All of us should take these to heart :-). redstatebluegirl Sep 2013 #1
Here's a link with examples of each TexasProgresive Sep 2013 #2
I could find examples of each on DU, no external link needed. Jim Lane Sep 2013 #11
I Am A Masterdebater. Johnny Ready Sep 2013 #3
Isn't it "Shalt not"? Motown_Johnny Sep 2013 #4
Very good. A lot of threads would be more interesting if more of these rules were followed. DLnyc Sep 2013 #5
There's one thing wrong with this list... Archae Sep 2013 #6
non sequitur ;-) BelgianMadCow Sep 2013 #8
You don't have to take their "arguments" seriously at all... sibelian Sep 2013 #10
You could focus on pointing out where their arguments are wrong. DLnyc Sep 2013 #12
I agree. Archae Sep 2013 #14
Seems like a constructive approach DLnyc Sep 2013 #15
It depends entirely on what the argument is. PlanetaryOrbit Sep 2013 #16
Once you become familiar with those bhikkhu Sep 2013 #7
A reminder needed every once in a while treestar Sep 2013 #9
Nice list to aspire to. mick063 Sep 2013 #13
Cough cough ahem ahem cough cough cough Warren DeMontague Sep 2013 #17
What about though... Archae Sep 2013 #18
That would show that the evidence is weak, not that the argument is false. DLnyc Sep 2013 #21
Necessary to know, but not sufficient. gulliver Sep 2013 #19
Amen Brother TrogL Sep 2013 #20
K & R Scurrilous Sep 2013 #22
As far as I'm concerned numbers 2 and 6 seem to be the most prevalent on DU. PragmaticLiberal Sep 2013 #23
Sorry, this is DU... SidDithers Sep 2013 #24
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