# This is not a Regards, Shodan pitting **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 26, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548 "2008-11-26T13:53:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/41 "2008-11-26T21:05:56Z")
> [@Peanut\_Gallery](#): > > I do ignore him. So when mom told you to stop touching your brother, you held a finger a quarter-inch away from his nose and said “I’m not touching yoooou!” ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/42 "2008-11-26T21:06:04Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > See my previous link. There is a distinction between posting knowing that it will cause idiots to go berserk, and posting in order to cause trouble in general. I agree. It is highly possible that posting many thing is going to cause some people problems; simply having disliked opinions and expressing them is not trolling. I would define trolling as not just posting things that may cause a quite strong reaction, but deliberately posting things in order to cause that particular reaction. Hence, when I saw this; [QUOTE=Shodan] Correct, IMO. With the caveat that sometimes I am fully aware that posting something will cause the Usual Suspects to go berserk, and still post it for the sheer entertainment value of watching the meltdowns. [/QUOTE] …I felt that posting for the sheer entertainment value of causing that reaction, knowing that it will occur, seems pretty in-line with trolling to me. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/43 "2008-11-26T21:26:43Z")
Pay no attention to the OP! ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/44 "2008-11-26T21:41:33Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > So as long as I consider you to be an idiot, then it’s okay to post shit that makes you go berserk Sure, knock yourself out. I get the impression that you are trolling to provoke a reaction that will make **Liberal** pay you to go away again. Which is fine. I am not going to give you a penny, and I suspect that, since you value your membership as little as that, you will get banned eventually anyway, so I can save my money. > [@](#): > > claiming I have no evidence for posting things you don’t believe? Correct - that’s something you made up. > [@](#): > > you did claim a few posts up that you post things that cause certain Dopers to go berserk for the “sheer” entertainment value of watching them react. Now “sheer” as I read it means that, even if there is no earthly value to it other than your entertainment, not the value of representing your sincere beliefs, or any other value, you would and will still post these things. See, there’s something else you are making up. No one on earth - under a bridge, maybe, but not on earth - thinks that “sheer” means “insincere”. That’s not merely a stretch, it goes well beyond into “stupid”. Territory with which you are intimately familiar, to be sure, but “stupid” nonetheless. But, even though you are stupid and a troll, you have posted something (no doubt by the merest accident) that is correct. There is no earthly value in trying to have real discussion with the Usual Suspects (yourself included, since you are stupid and a troll). You and the rest of the shit-slingers are not capable of serious discussion on certain topics. Therefore, there is no earthly value in posting to engage you. Because, after all, you are stupid and a troll. But laughing at you, making fun of your posts, and generally rubbing your nose in the fact that you are stupid and a troll - that has value. The only value that interacting with someone like you - stupid, and a troll - can have. Back in the 1800s, visiting Bedlam Asylum and mocking the inmates was a popular entertainment. This is the twentyfirst century equivalent. I like to go under bridges, poke the inhabitants - like you, who is stupid and a troll - and mock them when they howl. Then I slap them down hard, laugh at them when they gibber, and move on to the next topic. So, that’s not trolling, as I said earlier, and you ignored, because you are stupid and a troll. It’s feeding you and people like you, who are stupid and trolls. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/45 "2008-11-26T21:45:19Z")
We of the Mother’s March Against Cognitive Dissonance have yet to pick a 2009 Poster Child. Your last post inspires me to ask if you have a recent photo available? ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/46 "2008-11-26T21:48:11Z")
> [@Peanut\_Gallery](#): > > But what I am pitting (or maybe pitying) is people making post after post trying to reason with someone who just isn’t looking for reason. Someone who pretends to be debating but is really just arguing for the sake of arguing. Being contentious just to get you fired up. That’s trolling in my book. And it’s annoying to watch people fall for it. Not to mention having to read between the posts for content vs. people entertaining them. 40 some posts in this thread seem to support your theory. Some people post just for the sake of arguing, and other people fall for it. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/47 "2008-11-26T21:50:51Z")
Shodan is not a troll, but Kaylasdad was absolutely right. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/48 "2008-11-26T21:53:59Z")
I don’t think being hopelessly unprepared to defend certain posited arguments, in particular those relating to legal and constitutional analysis is trolling. I also don’t think refusal to answer opposing points of view and repeatedly stating the same thing as some kind of pretend response is trolling. Nor do I think pretending points have not been made, when those points are damaging to his arguments, is trolling. They are annoying to me, but hopefully are obvious to all who read. I do think creating frustration in those who oppose him gives **Shodan** a great degree of pleasure, but that in the end is the problem of those who argue against him. I got incredibly frustrated in a recent constitutional thread, but that doesn’t make him a troll. Just someone refusing to accept that things might be not actually be the way he has decided they are. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/49 "2008-11-26T21:58:21Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Shodan is not a troll, but Kaylasdad was absolutely right. About something in this thread? I don’t see it. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/50 "2008-11-26T22:03:35Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > About something in this thread? I don’t see it. See the post to which Shodan was responding that is linked in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/51 "2008-11-26T22:09:14Z")
Which is based on the premise (apparently) that if someone says A, B, and C, then they didn’t say A or B. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/52 "2008-11-26T22:20:58Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > See, there’s something else you are making up. No one on earth - under a bridge, maybe, but not on earth - thinks that “sheer” means “insincere”. That’s not merely a stretch, it goes well beyond into “stupid”. Territory with which you are intimately familiar, to be sure, but “stupid” nonetheless. [Merriam-Webster definition:](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sheer%5B3%5D) > [@](#): > > unqualified, utter \ \ b: being free from an adulterant : pure, unmixed c: viewed or acting in dissociation from all else \ I’m not buying into the notion that **Shodan** is so ignorant that he was using ‘sheer’ as an adjective to mean gauzy or transparent (e.g. a sheer negligee), or to mean exceedingly steep (a sheer cliff). He was, @11, admitting to being a troll, and in what I’ve just quoted, he was practicing the art of trolling. It’s always fun to study the species in its native habitat. Shall we tag this one with a little radio transmitter? ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/53 "2008-11-26T22:28:48Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No one on earth - under a bridge, maybe, but not on earth - thinks that “sheer” means “insincere”. That’s not merely a stretch, it goes well beyond into “stupid” You may repeat your supposed impression of my intellectual abilities and of my status as a well-known troll as often as you like–I believe you repeated it half-a-dozen times or more in your last post, but those who agree with you and those who disagree are all intelligent enough to get your point with only two or three repetitions per post. Any more than that tends to give the impression that you are repeating yourself for the sheer pleasure of repeating yourself. As to the meaning of the word “sheer”–it means "complete and without restriction or qualification " or “complete - having every necessary or normal part or component or step” or “not mixed with extraneous elements; unmingled, unmixed, plain, pure”-- get the idea? When you claim, as you self-destructively did here, that you often post provocative things for the “sheer” entertainment value of watching the results, that means that nothing other than that entertainment value need be present for you to justify having posted the provocative things. As often as you persist in calling me a troll and calling me stupid, that won’t change the definition of “sheer” to mean “wholly sufficient in itself” to ID you as a troll, by your own testimony. Whether I’m a stupid troll or a noble and wise poster is utterly irrelevant here, because the subject, which you seek to evade, is your having admitted to being a troll in the post I reference above. This is the subject I bring to your attention, and which I’d like you to address, whenever you’re done dishing out extraneous abuse, which is as boring to me as it is fascinating to you. Now, it’s your turn to discharge some of that pus you keep stored in your cranium and rant and carry on, ignoring my simple and direct point in the previous paragraph. I’ll help you get started: mention that you don’t like me, mention that you believe I’m very stupid, that I’m a troll, and spew general abuse and shit around in such quantities as to make the very dim-witted of your fans believe you wrote anything responsive to my crystal-clear point about the meaning of the word “sheer” in your post above. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/54 "2008-11-26T23:04:09Z")
No, if you are just going to repeat shit, it isn’t as much fun. Three paragraphs of horseshit, where you simply repeat the lie that “sheer” means “insincere” is unimaginative. See, that another of the things that drives maroons like you crazy - I don’t fall for your bullshit. You can troll away as hard as you want. As long as you are amusing me, I will poke you again and again, for the sheer fun of laughing at you. Now, if you weren’t stupid, you would realize that 'sheer" in that context means just what it does in every other. Obviously, it does not mean that I am not laughing at you, or that I don’t think you are a complete dolt. Obviously, I do. But that’s only if you weren’t stupid. As it is… ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/55 "2008-11-26T23:09:15Z")
Troll fight! Troll fight! Hit him with your pink hair! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/56 "2008-11-26T23:14:09Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Which is based on the premise (apparently) that if someone says A, B, and C, then they didn’t say A or B. \*Now, I’m not saying 1…or even 2 and 3. But I **am** saying 4, 5 and 6. (confused, angry uproar) Dog eat dog, not cock and bull Isms are the game Ism this and ism that Ism it a shame? \* - Bonzo Dog Band ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/57 "2008-11-26T23:15:49Z")
We really do overuse the word “troll” around here. The vast overwhelming majority of the time, **Shodan** is not being a troll. In fact, as a mod I’m pleased that we have very few [real trolls](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/magazine/03trolls-t.html?partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all) on this board (I have no interest in the uncontrolled anarchy that is a 4chan-type board). Posting unpopular opinions is not trollish, unless they aren’t your real opinions, or you’re doing it specifically to get a rise out of people. When I state that fortunetellers, astrologers, and dowsers are fakes, I know with certainty that **Peter Morris** is going to show up and start discoursing about James Randi. But that’s not why I make such posts. I make them to answer questions, debate subjects, fight ignorance, and (of course) express my own personal opinions. I think that **Shodan** believes what he posts. I also think that he is aware that many of his opinions are controversial and that they’ll engender debate, discussion and even ridicule on the SDMB. You can have debates without being a troll. You can disagree with the majority without being a troll. You can even get angry and argumentative without being a troll. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/58 "2008-11-26T23:15:52Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Hit him with your pink hair! That’s hot. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/59 "2008-11-26T23:24:18Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > I think that **Shodan** believes what he posts. I also think that he is aware that many of his opinions are controversial and that they’ll engender debate, discussion and even ridicule on the SDMB. You can have debates without being a troll. You can disagree with the majority without being a troll. You can even get angry and argumentative without being a troll. I’m sincerely curious what you as a mod think of think of this statement. > [@Shodan](#): > > Correct, IMO. With the caveat that sometimes **I am fully aware that posting something will cause the Usual Suspects to go berserk** , and **still post it for the sheer entertainment value of watching the meltdowns**. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548/60 "2008-11-26T23:34:00Z")
> [@5-4-Fighting](#): > > I’m sincerely curious what you as a mod think of think of this statement. It threw me when I first read it. I’ve always considered the “just to watch the meltdown” factor an integral part of what makes a troll, and the **Shodan** posts that I _do_ consider trolling were probably posted for that reason. Another factor that distinguishes trolls is that they tend to incite riots and watch, rather than being active participants all the way through. A really good troll can do a “hit and run” that goes on for days after the troll leaves. The first time I read what you quoted, I took it to mean that **Shodan** composed a post and then stopped to think about whether it would piss people off. He figured it would _and decided to post it anyway_. It was still his opinion, and pissing people off wasn’t the reason he wrote it, so I didn’t think of it as trolling. Rereading it now, I wonder if I misread it. Mayhaps you’d better jump in, **Shodan** , and explain that post. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-not-a-regards-shodan-pitting/474548.md?page=4)