From that response, I gather you have no idea what I meant.
That is not simple disagreement. Lekatt posts things that are verifiably false. He uses huge amounts of logical phallacies. He uses cites that were debunked when he first posted them years ago.
Not engaging him means letting his spewings stand unchallenged and risking other people being taken in.
You asked if I’d stop engaging him and countering his lies. I responded with ‘I’ll stop engaging him and countering his lies when he stops spewing lies on the SDMB’
What Lekatt is doing is wrong. Letting his lies stand unopposed and letting others be fooled by him would also be wrong. Countering his posts and exposing him for what he is, is the right thing to do.
And only my part. I agree that I am responsible for my actions.
I am. But, the mods made quit the whole EtherPsychology thing.
Show me where I “gleefully” insulted him? I genuinely regard Lekatt with pity. He’s done himself a great injury. He keeps making it worse. He refuses to let anybody heal him or even acknowledge his condition.
Tell me, Aeschines, should I have accepted it when my father called me stupid and useless? I did because I had no choice. When lekatt says those who support evolution are against religion, I will not lie down and take it because there are far too many people in this country who already believe that to be true. If we are to continue to fight ignorance, sure we are obligated to point out things which are factually incorrect.
I don’t think I have insulted lekatt recently, tempting though it’s been. I have said how frustrating and infuriating he is. I’ve deliberately stopped short of calling him a “hypocrite” because that would be easy to consider insulting even though it’s something I could make a very good argument for.
I enjoy participating in threads on religion and ethics, and I believe I have something to contribute to them. Should I give up something I enjoy because of one obstinate, close-minded poster? Let me give you something I see as a similar situation. I enjoy playing in Euchre tournaments at weekend get-togethers held by an organization I belong to. Over the past several months, one of our members has taken to playing obnoxiously and incompetently while drunk. Should I stop participating or work with the group to get him to see how his behaviour is affecting himself and others?
Sorry, Aeschines. I’ll be as polite as I possibly can, but I will continue to call him on his behaviour and I’ll continue to warn him when he crosses the line. Maybe one day he will get it, although I won’t bet the mortgage on it. After all, my father did eventually change. Until that time, though, I will use the Pit to say, “I can’t believe he’s doing it again!” knowing he doesn’t venture into the Pit. That may, in some ways be a good thing. I have vented about him to friends who don’t post here, but frankly, the folks around here have a much better understanding of what lekatt is like! :eek:
DocCathode and Siege, I did not set out to critique you two as individuals nor your treatment of the Pittee here or in other threads.
My suggestions to you apply to everyone on the Dope: lekatt won’t change, so let’s deal with the situation macro/long-term in the best way possible. Don’t engage him, use boiler-plate to prevent others from being influenced by him.
Yeah. I knew I was summoning lekatt on that one, hence the disclaimers in the OP. I just wanted to discuss an interesting counter-factural situation, brought on by my watching of Medium.
Ironically, for once, I was actually interested in lekatt’s opinion on something. Unlike myself or Bricker (who, btw, has done some excellent work in that thread, lekatt’s attempts at derailing aside), lekatt believes in psychics, and I thought he may have had something interesting to add.
Sorry, that’s not this way the board works. While I doubt most rational beings will be taken in by his “proof” that his beliefs are the Truth, he’s much more likely to do harm by spewing against scientists and people who disagree with him.
To expand on what Guin just said, it is doubtful whether a single boilerplate lekatt-rebutting post scould be crafted, which would readily apply to all situations.
I suppose you, Aeschines, could try to post one here in this thread, just as a public service, but I wouldn’t blame you if you declined the invitation. At the same time, I might observe that exhorting people to use boilerplate, while declining to craft any, could be seen as just a form of thread-crapping.
