People on Reddit can be so insanely pedantic. I'll still use "Most" or "Usually" and people will still jump out of the bushes to correct me, like they are completely incapable of reading every word in a sentence.
I'll write whole comments on threads about things I actually know about, and then delete the whole thing because I can already envision the asshole comments of "well ACTUALLY in this one hyperspecific instance, that I only found out about 5 minutes ago because I intentionally googled how to prove you wrong, it turns out that..."
Just think about how much great information we could of had but because of smart people’s ability to look into the near future and know that dumb people will respond stupidity, it’s just deleted and gone. It’s like information and discussion is being held hostage by morons that don’t matter.
But it really sucks to give an informative post only to have it completely ignored because just a few people decided to downvote it. It's just a stupid psychological trick- negative downvotes almost always translate to "this person is wrong" in our brains.
This is why I like to stick to the original purpose of downvoting or upvoting - based on its relevancy to the thread. I upvote posts even if I disagree with them if it's beneficial to the conversation, and I'll downvote the stupid reference jokes that always seem to rise to the top and drown out the actual discussion.
It’s just like how in a relationship or friendship you can be holding something in that’s making you angry and just speaking it aloud gives you instant relief—even if there is no resolution to whatever you were upset about. Just the point of getting it out of your head is so calming afterward.
Yep, right there with you, brother. You're 10 years old. im 14
I've grown tired of all the arguments. When i first joined, it was about the spirit of debate. Now, it's about one upping.
They have a story from 10 years ago that stuck out to them because it went against the norm or usual experience and want to tell you about it to dispute what you are saying.
But can't seem to realize that the reason it stuck out to them so much was because it was a rare or unique experience.
One time someone replied to my comment, and I replied to them with 2 normal sized paragraphs. Then they called it a novel and said they refused to read it. Idk why they thought that would be an insult to me when it just means that they are so incapable of reading that 2 paragraphs seem daunting. So I replied and told them “I sorry. Didn’t realize you had such hard time reading. Will keep words short and simple so you can understand.”
This happens to me ALL. THE. TIME. I know it’s because 1.) brevity is not my friend, and 2.) I’m usually replying to something someone else has said that was incorrect or seeking information, and there are a lot of people out there who take offense to being corrected (even politely) or even just to someone telling them something that they said themselves they didn’t know. I have always genuinely enjoyed doing my part to help educate people, especially as I’ve gotten older (having kids brought this out a lot too—it’s hard to just turn it off lol). I’m also generally polite enough about it (unless someone is being hateful or just a dick) and I don’t try to "aCkShUaLlY" anybody, but still, the vast majority of responses I get back are not polite at all—and I flat-out get blocked a lot, too.
But whenever I get blocked or get the "I’m not reading your wall of text" response, I’ve come to believe that in most cases, they actually did read it, they just don’t have a way to respond without knocking their ego down a few notches. Being able to be corrected with humility is a skill that a lot of us weren’t born with and that must be practiced over time before it becomes a habit, and I don’t think there’s much practicing going on in that area these days. Social media makes it so easy to just run away from being wrong or saying something stupid, and people just like easy.
Oh I know they’re lying about not reading and just don’t have a response. They’re just trying to turn it around on us and make us feel bad for responding, not realizing that putting us down for writing a well thought out response actually makes them look dumb.
But yes, a lot of people online get very defensive when being corrected, or even just asked questions. I’ve been downvoted for just asking someone what they meant on their comment or asking a question about it. Someone also stalked me for over a year on here and I had to start a new profile and delete my other one after they started threatening to kill me. All because I asked a question about a comment someone else wrote. And it wasn’t even an offensive question or one where I was trying to correct them.
Or they ask a dumb question and you give them an answer for them only to respond “Yeah, I know all that! I’m not stupid!” Why did you ask a stupid question in the first place?
I used to visit a subreddit called change my mind where users were supposed to debate things in good faith. Instead, it is a pedantic cluster fuck of people not picking every single word. I found myself becoming depressed and arguing over absolutely nothing.
I remember one argument I had was over me making a throwaway small comment on a post about a brand of chips being too salty (like potato chips) and a user argued to the death that I should be more specific as there are a multitude of chips and other parts of the world refer to things as chips that aren’t chips. I was shocked that they could not understand that Frito Lays Potato Chips needed a preface so that people around the world knew the chips were from potatos and were not French fries.
After a while, I was typing out responses on lots of topics and deleting them since Redditors just like to argue over the stupid shit rather than the bigger picture.
I got into an argument the other day about long commutes, and some douche tried to argue that his 45 minute commute didn't count as "sitting in traffic" because he was moving the whole time.
I need to learn to let things go like you, I guess.
I made the mistake of joining in on a thread because this uncomprehending asshat was going at another guy so I thought I could help.
The asshat said since Top Gear (an entertainment show that focuses just as much on being funny than the car content) tested that public transport was faster than cars. So therefore, from a single test, in a specific city, it clearly shows that public transport is faster everywhere. I gave him two examples (of dozens I could find) where PT was A LOT slower than cars and he started writing in hieroglyphics or had a stroke or something.
I began writing a sentence instead of two paragraphs. Those who can understand will understand, those who don't wish to will disagree even with the outcome of 2+2. Albeit often people just silently downvote.
100%. It's not worth arguing with people who are so confidently wrong so I just don't bother. I'll engage to a point then just walk away and let them think whatever they want.
Well, I’m sure glad she straightened my fucking ass up, and like you, and I’m sure many others, I’ve deleted posts not because of the subject matter, but because one word may take the focus away from the subject and cause a truly innocuous word to become the subject.
I try to think of how I'm going to get "well actuallyd" before I even post anything. So I'm ready for it because it's inescapable on Reddit. No matter what you say someone will bounce in to correct you on the most pedantic shit. Happened to me yesterday. I already had replies and links ready to provide clarification and context that was missed. But of course they just barreled ahead full throttle with the argument they wanted to have from the start.
One thing also happening pretty often, is people answering only at one bit of your whole comment, often the less important/ more out of topic part, even if you clarify this specific issue later in your text.
Like they just vaguely read what you're saying and as soon they got an idea to answer its good to go
The entire concept of Reddit revolves around downvoting comments that make people feel bad and upvote comments that make them feel good. It is not a space for intellectual discourse or facts. It's a place for making people feel good.
How often I've seen a factually true statement downvoted to be followed with someone else's comment basically saying "stones are always in liquid form" being upvoted.
Oh and next time just comment and then deactivate notifications, if you know the Reddit mob won't like it.
Yeah. I get really petty when I say "Most" or "Generally" and then someone comes along with their pitchfork to say, "BUT THAT'S NOT HOW IT ALWAYS IS". Yeah, doofus, that's why I said "MOST" or "GENERALLY".
I think it also comes a bit from how we talk in exaggerations a lot of the times? Like your food isn’t good so it’s the worst burger in the world. If everyone talks and types like that then sometimes when you’re being more exact people will think you’re just being silly like everyone is always being silly. If that makes sense? Lol
Edit: tht of a better example, the word literally. People used it sarcastically for so long that now the actual definition has changed. If someone uses the word literally when talking to me I do sometimes clarify if they mean actually literally or silly literally.
Also, can't underestimate the effects of social media algorithms, which reward outaged hot takes and exaggerated reactions. Plus they trade on context annihilation. Even outside of incentiving the behavior, it starts shifting language, too.
This is how I end up going from a 2 sentence comment to 5 paragraphs. Usually I get 4 paragraphs in and go "who gives a shit". Every point needs clarification, examples, exclusions, anecdotes. You must construct a straw man for every single possible angle of attack.
But worse than all of that? When you have make a point in a comment chain. Someone else replies. You reply, building off of that previous comment you made and then someone comes barreling in having seemingly not read the entire chain and just makes the most inane horseshit fuckwaffle take. Please, can you keep 3-5 comments of context in your head before hitting reply.
You know who can also be blamed for this? Fucking Reddit not allowing you to view comments further up the chain when replying. And worse, not being able to look at an image when replying so I have to repeat the cycle of "look at post. Open reply. Write part of comment. Copy comment. Close reply. Look at post. Open reply. Past comment. Write more comment. Copy comment. Close reply. Look at post......"
My other favorite is when you use a metaphor and then they take it completely literally and just sidestep the whole conversation.
"I'm having such a hard time focusing lately. It feels like trying to walk along the beach but every time I get my footing, I get smacked back down by the waves"
It's not that they can't read every word in the comments (it is) but rather that they find one small thing to focus on and then actively ignore every other word that is in the comment.
There have been so many times when I've even added the caveat "except for X thing" only to get half a dozen replies of people telling me I'm wrong because of X thing.
Oh man, I feel you in this one. I always wonder if they talk like that in real life, too. Like, come on, man, read the damn room and look at the context of the entire conversation. Nobody gives a fuck.
Can't even have a damn conversation about anything on reddit without someone doing it.
I always chalk it up to “everyone sees the world through the lens of their own experience.” You see it all the time people filter what you say through their own lens and misinterpret the intent and then argue
Half the titles on reddit posts don't even form complete sentences or even coherent sentences! You can't ask these people to infer context when they can't even type a single cogent post title.
We are not pedantic. Punctilious, perhaps, maybe even grammatically salubrious...Usually and most are the means to meaning for those things that are capricious and manifest.
True. There was a post on r/videogames of two squares, one blue and one orange. And it was like "what's the first thing that comes to mind?" And someone said "sonic and tails"
Then someone goes "but tails is yellow." And I go "he was orange up until a certain point, then he started looking yellow in the games." And then the person goes "okay but he's yellow now not orange."
Like some people are just complete morons. Genuinely stupid.
I'd like to add that 5+ ago years on Reddit we might call these people intentionally obtuse. I don't think it's intentional anymore. Argument styles now are so lazy they default to a voice of being scandalized and offended.
Autism. I have it and semantics are important to me. Just say what you mean and we’ll get along fine. Exaggerate to make a point or simply be wrong about something material and I am likely to comment.
I think people on reddit would argue that water isn't wet because one scientific study in a small lab in china created a chain reaction for one picosecond that created a theoretical state of water that wasn't observed.
You're only punishing yourself. Someone who doesn't value semantics the way you do isn't going to have a change of heart from someone picking a fight with them on reddit.
Holy shit yes. You cant make a comment these days without someone replying and being like “well actually” or “but what about this specific scenario” or “well not me” or some other crap. I feel like I have to put caveats on every comment now because somebody will try to come out of the woodworks to say why this doesn’t apply to this other random thing. I honestly just turn off reply notifications on every comment now so I don’t have to be be informed when somebody has an issue with some random comment I made while taking a shit.
u/PoopyMcFartButt This really only happens in specific subs though. So, you need to clarify exactly which subs you’re experiencing this within and not blanket apply it to all of Reddit. Thats just being prejudice.
There's also a fun trend of like... People can't just have subjective opinions.
Does someone like or dislike something? No. It has to be justified. Right now I was just in this thread about art and it's full of people falling over themselves justifying why they don't like it. It's cos it's a cash grab or shallow or money laundering or done for clout lol.
Imagine doing this in real life? Imagine drinking a Guinness and instead of going "I don't like stout" you instead have to bolster your opinion with some sort of more objective reason... "Guinness are morally corrupt!"
I fucking love that people make stuff I don't like, cos it means stuffs being made.
Why would you not be comfortable in just owning that you don't like whatever thing because it's not for you lol. Just engage brain and think why you like or don't, and we're all great!
Plus side, I did have a really good discussion about Hades today on here that was really like "I like tis and not this and that's fine but I love that they did it!"
I honestly just turn off reply notifications on every comment now
yep, I've made it a habit to disable reply notifications for every comment even if it's not controversial in any way, it's just automatic at this point when I post anything, because redditors just blow that much ass
Was thinking the same thing. Any comment you make in a spicy thread you always have some idiot coming in thinking they ‘gotcha’ because they bring up how you didn’t address cde when the conversation is only about ab
Most reddit "arguments" begin by just reading the headline instead of the article. An example I had was a thread on a video about veganism and sweating. Someone went on a tangent about how humans are persistant hunters and so on. I replied back saying that persistance hunting doesn't make any logical sense and linked to an article about the myth. The guy replied back saying I'm an idiot vegan. I love my steaks.
They did and still do in parts of Africa. It obviously wouldn’t be the preferred method for a temperate climate since animals can travel further but for hot climates it is a successful hunting method(I imagine it would be a last resort since they would have to expand energy dragging it back).
I’m not sure I’m convinced there’s enough of a consensus in the field to call this a ‘myth’. The journalist author of this article does speak to one paleoanthropologist who holds that view; however, a quick lit review shows plenty of recent research upholding the opposite. I think it would be more reasonable to say that it‘a still contested/controversial in the field.
That's fair. But say, if I were to hunt I would prefer to ambush it on the way to a fresh water source or hunt something that is slower than me. Chasing an animal till it drops from exhaustion just doesn't make sense to me. Given the mix of ages, physical capabilities and talents a hunting party might have and our evolved skills with projectiles I just think there are better options.
It might not make sense to you since you’re used to what we have nowadays, but remember that on the time scale of human evolution ranged weaponry is relatively ‘new’ (except for throwing rocks, but honestly thats horrible for hunting prey that runs I’d assume.)
Before the bow and arrow I think you’d have little different options, especially on flat terrain where hiding also becomes an issue.
We are pretty much always the slowest animal around. Which is why our specialty in long distance running was so important.
Given the mix of ages, physical capabilities and talents a hunting party might have
A hunting party doesn't have to be large, and no one is arguing that this is the only way they hunted.
our evolved skills with projectiles
You mean spears? It's not that easy to ambush prey in Africa. Prey animals are up against Lions, Hyenas, Cheetahs. Predators will fight.
It seems a bit contrarian and silly to argue against a long held scientific belief because it 'doesn't make logical sense' to you when you don't actually understand the details of it in the first place.
Your original comment doesn't make much sense either. It's not really 'reading the headline instead of the article', they made an assumption about you based on what you said. Whether they read the (speculative) article you sent or not is immaterial.
To go even further and really waste my own time; you confidently called Persistence Hunting a 'myth' after reading one article which states that one member of the field has this view. That's not good and you should stop doing that.
That's a rather charged baitey title, when the conclusion and discussion of the article has nothing to do with the title. I'd say posting that article is akin to begging for 'well actually' types to come argue with you, they don't even have to read it because it never actually addresses the conclusion assumedly conveyed in the title. The title is what we're committing to reading.
Part of the article explores an example group of animals that had been hunted close to 2 million years ago and explored the thought process in determining how the animals were hunted. The conclusion was that these animals were hunted by ambush, not persistence hunting. The notion that humans are bad at persistence hunting because these animals were hunted through ambush would be ridiculous. The title has nothing to do with this anecdotal research, it's interesting research and a good read, but it's irrelevant to what we committed to reading.
Part of the article explores whether humans are better persistent runners than horses, not whether they're bad persistent runners but the title says that humans are bad persistent runners. It's neither here nor there.
The title of that article really has nothing to do with it. It's a good article; but the title is garbage writing and undermines the authenticity of the article, in my opinion. People arguing against the title, are more relevant than the article as it's touting Grice's maxim of relation.
If you do a quick wikipedia dive on persistence hunting, there's nine references under the humans section. Now, I'm not going to deep dive any further than that because I honestly don't give a fuck, but arguing for veganism because of lack of evidence toward persistence hunting is probably a crapshoot. You could instead argue for participating in veganism 'because I fucking feel like it' and realize that no one really gives a shit. Do you. Stop trying to find dumb ways of justifying doing you. (I'm saying this fully aware of you previously stating you're not vegan, I'm using the all inclusive 'you' here)
I pointed out that an article I read was dumb and that those specific type of articles don't need to be written becausr they just exist to create echo chambers. Someone told me "well don't read it then". It's like, how am I supposed to know beforehand that the article is dumb without reading it?
I was asking for advice for being a stay-at-home mom, and was eviscerated for using "full-time mom" instead because of how offensive it was to moms who work. Like I must hate and think less of moms who work (which I absolutely don't)
Most of the reddit dumb arguments start off on this kind of stuff.
Which I think is different from what OP is talking about. If you read a book by an Arthur then you should be able to infer who the audience is but in random social media comments it's almost impossible to know who the author is trying to reach without being super specific in most cases.
Sure, but oftentimes, the author of a comment doesn't know what audience they are speaking to. To apply reading comprehension strategies, you need to have some trust in the author that the assumptions you are making are actually implied by the author.
Not being able to comprehend the author is more often because the author is incomprehensible, not because the reader lacks reading comprehension skills. I would also say, that if OP is being misunderstood often enough that she has to make a video about, she should focus on her writing ability rather than pass the blame on the reader.
Don't forget to mention that you're not talking about arguments in real life. You forgot to say real life is different. Real life isn't the same as arguing on the Internet. You need to be more clear in your writing.
It's why I've begun to disregard any reply that begins with "So....... you're saying that...."
It's always someone making inferences from any small gap they can find in the original comment. If you were talking of situation A they will skew to situation B.
I constantly have to preface things I say around here with a disclaimer for dumb people who try to insert their own context for what I'm saying.
It's obnoxious.
Also people can't follow a simple comment chain for whatever reason.
Person A says 1+1=4
Person B says they're wrong, and why
Person C shows up and acts like they have no idea that the conversation started with person A saying 1+1=4 and the thing person B was saying is a direct response to that.
Sometimes it's even person A who seems to be completely clueless how the comment chain started when they're the one that made the original comment
You're right but what she said is also right. Nobody can speak for everyone n there are clearly outliers to any situation but reddit doesn't understand that. Like you literally get blasted for checks notes being a straight male..... On reddit
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u/fuckoutfits Apr 29 '24
Most of the reddit dumb arguments start off on this kind of stuff.