You're viewing a single thread.
I agree that the civil war was about slavery and that it's ignorant to deny it, but "I have a degree and you surely don't, by the authority vested in me I declare you an idiot" is a terrible format for an argument, almost any other way of putting it would be better.
I can say from experience that having expertise in an area where people deny reality because of politics can be absolutely exhausting. You can spend your whole life trying to counter the bullshit with fact and get nowhere. Arguing in good faith with someone who argues in bad faith is a losing game. Sometimes you just want to say "Shut up, I know more than you".
Ugh I totally feel it. I have a PhD in sociology... sociology. If another person tells me that my research is just my opinion or that they have a one off anecdotal story that disproves any research I talk about, I might throw up on them. It's very difficult to be civil. But I try my best to educate and remain calm.
The anti-intellectualism that's infested this country for generations makes it so you almost have more credibilty if you're uninformed.
Sometimes you just want to say “Shut up, I know more than you”.
That is fair, I just think it won't do any good, and people who say more than that are doing good, even if they don't get to see it. Not saying the right move is to get sucked into a point by point debate with someone trying to spread lies, but anyone reading could benefit from being pointed in the direction of reality even if they won't thank you for it.
So the fact that this person clearly has researched said subject enough to get a degree in it to know what they're talking about vs some dude who is quite possibly pulling bullshit out his ass doesn't allow for said learned person to tell said non-learned person they are an idiot?
Because sometimes I think it kinda does.
Pretty sure they have a problem with using that expertise to call them an idiot instead of offering counterpoints.
A lot of the people on Lemmy seem to think the Internet isn't a casual space and think engaging with these types of people in those spaces will somehow change their opinions.
It doesn't give anyone new information, it's hostile in a way that could turn anyone on the fence against them and make everyone disagreeing dig their feet in more, and claiming expertise on the internet doesn't mean much because people lie constantly. You can demonstrate through writing that you know what you're talking about without asking people to take your word for it, you can make references. If you don't have time for an effortpost you can summarize, link, or quote an argument someone else made while putting it in context.
There are really excellent arguments against all kinds of misconceptions, it is a shame if what ends up spread around are schoolyard level clapbacks instead of those. r/AskHistorians in particular has some really good ones, including about this specific issue.
As a rule of thumb I think anytime you are invoking your expertise, you should also be sharing some of it.
That particular argument isn't debatable to anyone with any knowledge of history. It isn't everyone else's job to educate someone on easily researched topics. The answer is sometimes, no, fuck you, you're an asshole and a liar.
Agreed. It’s not !clevercomebacks material.
Let's please not pretend somebody who knows something about a subject needs to say any more than Bullshit to deliberate liars.
I think it is basically never helpful to make that sort of argument. Did not imply there's an obligation to say something else.