# Ethical Dilemma **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 13, 2002, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-dilemma/136601 "2002-11-13T17:55:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Scantilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Scantilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scantilly)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-dilemma/136601/21 "2002-11-14T20:12:51Z")
I think that it is challenging and stimulating to explore points of view that are vastly different from the ones we normally prescribe to. I believe that fantasy is an exciting way to investigate these contradictions and develop the ability to defend perspectives that oppose our usual stand points. As long as you stay clear that these are GAMES of DECEIT and take responsibility for that choice. I personally would be careful about doing this in your life because it undermeines the possibility of developing truthfull relationships. I have recently joined this message board and I would be deeply disappointed to find out that people were posting perspectives they didn’t really prescribe to. If we set up a thread where we took on fake personalities specifically to explore identities and the nature of debate that would be different. In fact that could be fun! Ultimately I am most thrilled by expressing myself honestly and having my opinions stand up to public scrutiny even if people are in disagreement with me. I value personal integrity highly. At the same time I love to play games and sometimes the trickster in me leads me astray! “There can be no justice when laws are absolute. Life itself is an exercise in exceptions.” – Jean-Luc Picard ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-dilemma/136601/22 "2002-11-14T20:44:03Z")
**Moderator’s Notes:** > [@](#): > > Trolls who post under multiple names for the sake of creating fake “debates” (with themselves) and/or ganging up on legitimate posters. It’s a real problem. On the SDMB this isn’t a problem. As the registration agreement clearly states, individuals are permitted only one screen name. If we find people engaging in that type of sock puppetry here, all accounts belonging to that individual are inactivated. Your experience at other boards, of course, may vary. ---
**Author:** ![Suspenderzzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Suspenderzzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suspenderzzz)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-dilemma/136601/23 "2002-11-14T20:46:38Z")
**Scantilly** , I agree 100%. The two trolls I referred to earlier (I met them on the internet and became friendly with them for a while until they bragged about what they were doing - - then I dropped them like a hot potato) used to invent entire life stories to go with each personality they invented. It was quite amusing actually. The male part (a 56-year-old unemployed loser who lives somewhere in the boodocks) for example is quite proud of himself for having presented himself as a 17-year old girl, several women in their 30’s and 40’s and so on. One of the personas he put the most effort in is a teacher in New York City who is a proud homeowner. He is particularly proud of that one. He did a whole lot of research on NY real estate and all kinds of stuff. People, you can’t make this stuff up. It’s priceless. When he got no responses posting as the NY homeowner, he invented another personality as a NY real estate _lawyer_ just so he had someone to “argue” with. And he went back and forth like that, sometimes literally around the clock. When he bragged about it and tried to recruit me for this b/s, I realized I was dealing with a psycho (two psychos, actually, for, as I mentioned before, he had a sidekick – a 44-yr. old woman who invented a “cancer patient” and a whole “support group” to surround her. LOL.) I probably fell for their b/s a few times. They realized that I have a silly sense of humor and made the mistake of spilling the beans to me about what they were doing. They were wrong. I am laughing, but _at_ them, not _with_ them. Ah, well… ---
**Author:** ![Suspenderzzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Suspenderzzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suspenderzzz)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-dilemma/136601/24 "2002-11-14T21:23:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by UncleBeer \* > \*\ ***Moderator’s Notes:** > > On the SDMB this isn’t a problem. As the registration agreement clearly states, individuals are permitted only one screen name. If we find people engaging in that type of sock puppetry here, all accounts belonging to that individual are inactivated. > > Your experience at other boards, of course, may vary. \*\* Thanks for the response. All of this happened on other boards. I didn’t meant to imply that it happened on this one. One of the things I like about this board is that it has relatively strict guidelines compared to some others. ---
**Author:** ![Suspenderzzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Suspenderzzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suspenderzzz)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-dilemma/136601/25 "2002-11-15T14:26:02Z")
BTW, UncleBeer, you mention “sock puppetry”. I have heard that term a thousand times, but I still don’t know exactly what it is. Embarrassed to admit it. I assume it’s something similar to trolling, because the two are usually mentioned together. I know, I’m being ignorant. Anyone want to fill me in? What exactly is the difference between a sock puppet and a troll? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-dilemma/136601/26 "2002-11-15T14:37:24Z")
Sock puppet is the example you gave with these two alleged individuals, e.g., more than one screen name for a single person. The puppet is usually there as a support for the original (troll) user. Could also be used to argue against a view, as you stated. ---
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-dilemma/136601/27 "2002-11-15T16:55:39Z")
**UncleBeer** , I’m sure, remembers fondly a sock puppet of mine. Her name was **ILoveUncleBeer**. She was used for the sole purpose of expressing my unrequited love for the man, the myth, the mod… :::sigh::: He’s so dreamy. ---
**Author:** ![Suspenderzzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Suspenderzzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suspenderzzz)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-dilemma/136601/28 "2002-11-15T17:38:46Z")
Okay, thanks for the explanation. I figured it had to be something along those lines. Wonder why they don’t just call it ventriloquist. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-dilemma/136601/29 "2002-11-15T19:44:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Her name was ILoveUncleBeer. :::sigh, indeed::: How quickly they forget. The name was [I **Heart** UncleBeer](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?s=&action=getinfo&userid=3550) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17425](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17425) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-dilemma/136601/30 "2002-11-15T21:07:39Z")
But YOU remember, Oh Uncle Of Beers. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shah\_Jehan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Shah\_Jehan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shah_Jehan)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-dilemma/136601/31 "2002-11-15T21:19:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Giraffe \* > \*\*However, if you simply raise questions in response to someone else’s arguments (e.g.) “yes, but what about X, Y, and Z?” or “how would you address the problem of X?” then I think that’s great. \*\* Actually, I guess that’s more like what I really do. You can see for yourself on this thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=137992&perpage=50&highlight=why%20AND%20would%20AND%20prayers%20AND%20work&pagenumber=1](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=137992&perpage=50&highlight=why%20AND%20would%20AND%20prayers%20AND%20work&pagenumber=1) I apologize for the way it’s linked, but I haven’t figured out the proper way to do it. Also, I’ve thought aboutr it and I think it’s not about pestering someone who’s passionate, but about making sure someone doesn’t take any part of their argument for granted. I like to make sure that someone who thinks they’ve covered all their bases, really has. I really did agree with everything **Diogenes** had to say. In this case, I wanted to make sure that **Diogenes** really had done the reading implied by his/her first post. I came away comfortable that he/she was for real. Anyway, I don’t take this seriously enough to consider it an “intellectual exercise”. If it’s not directly related to my job, everything I do on the web is just for fun. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-dilemma/136601/32 "2002-11-20T22:11:11Z")
Just as an aside, what the OP suggests has been specifically referenced as trolling by the Admins here. The only way it’s acceptible is if you identify that you’re p laying devil’s advocate. See [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=71181&highlight=advocate) To quote **Tuba** > [@](#): > > As long as you make it clear that you’re genuinely trying to invite discussion and debate and not just being a mindless troll about something, stirring the pot for the sake of getting people all agitated, that’s the difference. I shall make no comments on the accuracy of **Tuba** ’s comments. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-dilemma/136601/33 "2002-11-20T22:12:47Z")
Substitute the words “incredible appropriateness in this instance” for “accuracy” Sorry **Tuba**! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-dilemma/136601.md?page=1)