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Weaponized Discourse — Why You Can’t Win Arguments With Anyone Anymore
We argue for the sake of conflict, not to resolve differences
You are wasting your time arguing. But maybe you love it.
Wrestling a pig in dung will only leave you exhausted and covered in dung. The pig will be left delighted and awaiting your return with even more energy. Surely you’ve heard this proverb, and yet… subreddit comment sections are indisputable evidence that the world must be pigs all the way down. And if you find it irresistible to correct someone online, maybe you actually love it! Oh, how fabulous.
Before you label this as yet another enlightened article about the bloody obvious, consider a question. Do you know why wrestling with virtual pigs is more popular than any other activity online? There is more to it than a biological need for a daily dose of whatever gets your blood flowing faster without leaving the glow of the screen. Have you ever heard of Eristic?
Eris, the ancient Greek goddess of chaos, strife, and discord, is the source of the word ERISTIC, a type of argument that aims to dispute a point of view rather than discover truth. Eris, the goddess (ancient Greek mythology is super uber-sexist, but we can imagine this deity as gender-neutral), was believed to inspire arguments for…
