I came in here for an argument

[RonSouther]

Originally Posted by Mondrian

Why do you insist on telling me what I'm doing? I'm here, it's okay, I've got a brain too. It's starting to be make me laugh (in partially affectionate kind of way).

You wanted a fight....this is how I fight. I poke your ego in the eye with perspective, not with insults. I don't feed you ego.

I used to do this in high school. The bullies wanted to kick my backside but being 6'3" usually kept them a little cautious, then I would do the same thing with perspective and they would feel stupid and go away.

I was never in a real fight ever because of my mouth. 30 years later, I'm sparring with another bully. "I came in here for an argument". Ok, you got one...and I've won your affection!! yeah!!! Love you too, bro!!

[Mondrian]

Originally Posted by ZephyrusX

I'm not sure if I can argue with that.

Why are you frustrated? You mentioned that debating can be good to vent and let off steam, but then, that implies you are venting about something.

I'm frustrated. It's nothing unusual. You get frustrated don't you? Yes, I'm venting. You can read what I'm frustrated and venting about. This is all self-evident.

[Mondrian]

Originally Posted by RonSouther

You wanted a fight....this is how I fight. I poke your ego in the eye with perspective, not with insults. I don't feed you ego.

I used to do this in high school. The bullies wanted to kick my backside but being 6'3" usually kept them a little cautious, then I would do the same thing with perspective and they would feel stupid and go away.

I was never in a real fight ever because of my mouth. 30 years later, I'm sparring with another bully. "I came in here for an argument". Ok, you got one...and I've won your affection!! yeah!!! Love you too, bro!!

Okay, then let's quit while we're both ahead.

I feel I got something out of it. It was exciting, funny, risky, nerve-racking, stimulating, interesting, and generally progressive for me.

I thought the gallery were a little biased and the the kettle calling the pot black but it wouldn't have been an argument otherwise.

[qwertyportne]

My father taught me how to argue and vent positively, not negatively, whereas my mother demonstrated the difference.

When she was angry with my father, for example, because he would not bend to her will, she would yell and throw things at him. He would calmly try to explain both the advantages and disadvantages of doing what she wanted him to do. Rather than discuss the pros and cons of one choice over the other, she would get even angrier. Why? Because she couldn't make him angry.

At some point in every argument, he would leave the house, go out to his shop and beat the crap out of something with his three-pound sledge, toss obscenities at it, then sit down, pop the cap on a beer and wait until he no longer heard her screaming her lungs out.

Arguing in a civil way indicates that you intend to make your point without injuring other people, that people are more important than winning the argument or venting your frustration at the expense of others, that you are entering the debate to teach and to learn. If that is not the case, then you are, well, I'm going out to my shop for a hammer and a beer...

[Ilique]

*chuckling*

Mondrian was poking the natives here, I think, with a very long stick. A very long, very controlled, very calculated stick. *LOL*

Melanie

[qwertyportne]

Yeah, with over 400 posts, I thought his "rant" was suspicious, but I learned a great deal from the thread, and perhaps everyone else, including him, did as well...

--Bill