In this post I attempted to get Magiver to actually engage with the arguments of his opponents.
Anyone who is engaging in a debate in good faith can attempt to understand the arguments of their opponents and engage with them. You can think your opponents are totally wrong, and even totally evil, and yet still understand and address the argument they’re attempting to make.
Magiver does not do this. He decides his position is correct and doesn’t even bother to try to understand how anyone else might think differently or what they’re trying to argue. It doesn’t matter how many times you demonstrate him to be wrong or have a flaw in his logic, it won’t change his mind to slightest bit. His purpose is to just beat you over the head with what he thinks is correct over and over again, never gaining any understanding, insight, or value at all from the conversation.
So my post was basically to say “hey, here’s the argument we’re making. It’s a competing explanation for what has happened to yours. Can you acknowledge you understand it? Can you acknowledge that it’s a valid interpretation of events even if it contradicts your preferred beliefs?” – anyone engaging in good faith could look at my post and say “yes, I understand what you’re saying, but here’s why I think my explanation makes more sense” – he didn’t even try that. He replied to my post but not with any substance, he skipped out on the issue entirely.
Is he a troll? My gut says probably not. There are plenty of stupid, hard-headed people in the world who believe their preferred beliefs are always correct and can hear contradictory things without ever considering them. There’s no reason to think he’s not one of them. He doesn’t seem smart enough to actually be a troll.
And the thing is - trolling usually involves faking being an idiot exactly like the sort of idiot he is. Does it even matter if he’s a troll? He doesn’t operate in good faith, he doesn’t actually engage in debate, he’s not an asset to any debate.