Thread:Talk:Article feedback/Irrelevant/reply (50)

"would NEVER tell someone their experience was "infinitesimal"."

Hey! What a coincidence! I would 'never tell someone their experience was infinitesimal either! :)

But since we're on the same page, let me give you some advice as someone who has walked this road before.

Even though you would never tell someone that their experience was infinitesimal, you do have to be careful when you are having a internet disagreement, especially if you are successfully countering their points. Because even though everything is written plainly in text and is saved in the history, when the other person starts losing their footing and feel like they're not making progress with their arguments, they're going to take whatever you said and then SAY that you called their experience infinitesimal and keep repeating that mantra, over and over again and pray that no one will actually read the exchange and see that other person is just blowing smoke. Now, granted, given the "laziness principle" of humanity, that is not a crazy bet to make.

Yes, I know you can point out to them (repeatedly) how you never called them, their experience, their observations or anything else beyond a category of articles as "infinitesimal" but, again as someone who has went through this pony show, it probably won't help because at this point, strawmen and misrepresentations of the other side is all they got going for them.

So to wrap up. Good for you! It is important to maintain civility in discourse and not belittle the contribution of other editors by calling their experience "infinitesimal" or other ad hominem attack but I just want you to be prepared for when people still try fabricate their own ad hominem by blatantly and repeatedly misrepresenting what you said. It's tough. It's frustrating. But stay the good course and not sink to their level of grasping straws.

Though, admittedly, it doesn't hurt to let out a little steam via sarcasm but stay above the belt with more irony and understatement than jibes.