What piece of ignorance ...

… did you first defeat while on-line?

Granted I did it quite timidly as I had never been challenged in such a way before but it was back in 1996 when I casually mentioned that Battle of Kings Mountain, from the American Revolution, had occured in South Carolina. I got into a big debate with this guy from North Carolina who claimed it had occured just outside of Kings Mountain, NC. Something which he was certain of since he had lived there whereas I lived on the other side of the US. I tried to inform him that the town Kings Mountain was only named as such in the 1880s. That battle did not occur on the steep peak outside of the town, as the townsfolk like to think, but rather on a small hillock at the southern end of the range, well into SC. None of which he believed. I gave him the phone number to the Kings Mountain National Military park, suggested he should call or visit. I’m pretty sure he didn’t.

Ok, where’s my victory?

I have no proof that I did prove it since he never acknowledged that what I said was true. In fact I have the sneaking suspicion that what I said was the last thing he wanted to admit to being true. But my arguements were invulnerable and everyone else who read could reach no sensible conclusion then that I was right. So I lost him, but others believed the truth.

Ignorance is never defeated online. In fact, the internet *breeds *ignorance. You can post your research all you want, but for every Urban Legend you’ve debunked, there will be twenty times as many stupid or apathetic retards forwarding junk to everyone they’ve ever talked to about politics or cinema or childcare. Couple this with the puds who want to keep in touch with every cybersex partner they’ve ever had, and you begin to see the scope of the Misinformation Super Highway.

I think I’m making steady headway in the battle with my own ignorance. Which I think is the best battle to fight. FWIW.