[note: this is related to fandom, but only on a meta level per the way fandom firestorms based on differences of opinion, as does any group at some point.]
In the recent debate over derailment, I think linkspam is largely to blame for a lot of the confusion, something that in and of itself also reflects a confusion about the larger issue of argumentation dynamics. I don't mean the mods of linkspam (in re their tagging of posts) but linkspam itself. But since it's hard to see the impact of additional factors when you don't grasp the fundamentals... this post is me at it again, wrestling with the simpler lower-levels as preface to tackling the complex upper layers where Linkspam and its kin have had the greatest impact.
All posts, it seems to me, fall into one of two categories: certainty and uncertainty.
Rants, observations, analysis-with-conclusion are usually certainty posts: the author is pretty damn certain about his/her stance on the topic at hand. Whether the conclusion be that some people are idiots, that privilege needs to be checked, that a position or event is utter fail, or a position or event is utter win, the poster is near-rhetorical in the firmness of his/her opinion. (Public posts with comments closed are an example of the near-rhetorical becoming fully rhetorical, literally.) Sometimes, intelligent or persuasive replies may prompt the OP to shift a certainty-position into one of uncertainty. And sometimes, not.
Open-ended questions are most often uncertainty posts, as are rambling stream-of-consciousness. Some posts that may appear to be certainty posts -- milder rants, observations, commentary -- may in fact be uncertainty posts; look for personal qualifiers ("it seems to me"), double-checking ("does anyone else see it this way"), and considering the opposite ("but on the other hand"). (At the same time, extreme snark or sarcasm usually indicates certainty, even with the inclusion of uncertain modifers.)
Basically, an uncertainty post is when someone isn't sure how to approach, handle, deal with, or consider a topic, or when the OP has an approach but wants feedback on whether this is really the best approach.
In other (more colloquial and slightly hyperbolic) words, a certainty post is for sounding off, while an uncertainty post seeks a sounding board.
( And so we begin a slightly uncertain (or not) contemplation of the dynamics of a discussion and the differences between settling a debate versus resolving it. )
In the recent debate over derailment, I think linkspam is largely to blame for a lot of the confusion, something that in and of itself also reflects a confusion about the larger issue of argumentation dynamics. I don't mean the mods of linkspam (in re their tagging of posts) but linkspam itself. But since it's hard to see the impact of additional factors when you don't grasp the fundamentals... this post is me at it again, wrestling with the simpler lower-levels as preface to tackling the complex upper layers where Linkspam and its kin have had the greatest impact.
All posts, it seems to me, fall into one of two categories: certainty and uncertainty.
Rants, observations, analysis-with-conclusion are usually certainty posts: the author is pretty damn certain about his/her stance on the topic at hand. Whether the conclusion be that some people are idiots, that privilege needs to be checked, that a position or event is utter fail, or a position or event is utter win, the poster is near-rhetorical in the firmness of his/her opinion. (Public posts with comments closed are an example of the near-rhetorical becoming fully rhetorical, literally.) Sometimes, intelligent or persuasive replies may prompt the OP to shift a certainty-position into one of uncertainty. And sometimes, not.
Open-ended questions are most often uncertainty posts, as are rambling stream-of-consciousness. Some posts that may appear to be certainty posts -- milder rants, observations, commentary -- may in fact be uncertainty posts; look for personal qualifiers ("it seems to me"), double-checking ("does anyone else see it this way"), and considering the opposite ("but on the other hand"). (At the same time, extreme snark or sarcasm usually indicates certainty, even with the inclusion of uncertain modifers.)
Basically, an uncertainty post is when someone isn't sure how to approach, handle, deal with, or consider a topic, or when the OP has an approach but wants feedback on whether this is really the best approach.
In other (more colloquial and slightly hyperbolic) words, a certainty post is for sounding off, while an uncertainty post seeks a sounding board.
( And so we begin a slightly uncertain (or not) contemplation of the dynamics of a discussion and the differences between settling a debate versus resolving it. )