User:Leucosticte/Trolling

Accusing others of trolling is discouraged. ZackMartin's Law states that "In any debate, the first person to call someone a 'troll' automatically loses the argument." Most debates go nowhere productive as soon as someone drops the T-bomb. This is to be expected, because one can hardly have a constructive dialog by accusing one's opponents of acting in bad faith or hurling epithets at them. There also seems to be persistent belief (or argument, anyway) that if we don't give in to the demands of whoever calls someone a troll, then the trolls have won.

A Futurama Fry cartoon states, "Not sure if trolling ... or just stupid." (See also Hanlon's Razor.) If someone consistently acts stupid, one may as well act under the assumption that the person is indeed stupid rather than questioning his motives. The question then becomes, What is the best way of dealing with consistently stupid people?

Tactful ways of telling someone he's an idiot who needs to buy a clue before opening his mouth so he doesn't keep annoying people and wasting their time
One might say, "The FAQ states..." or "Thanks for your input. Unfortunately, because of x, y is unfeasible. You might find this article interesting. In particular, I found that some of the pages it links to, especially a, b and c, were very helpful in helping me understand how this system works. I admire your enthusiasm and initiative in wanting to get involved in this project, and encourage you to continue seeking to offer useful contributions and suggestions after you have familiarized yourself with this material."

External link

 * What is a troll?
 * Tone troll, RationalWiki
 * Concern troll, RationalWiki
 * Don't feed the Troll, RationalWiki
 * Trolling With Logic, RationalWiki
 * Fun:Internet troll, RationalWiki
 * Essay:Is RationalWiki really rational?, RationalWiki