So I am a troll !! In internet slang a troll is a person who sows discord on the net by starting arguments or upsetting people and by posting inflammatory, extraneous, off topic messages.
The term is a catch all phrase, much like racist, homophobic, misogynist, it covers such a plethora of intention that it closes down sensible comment and discussion.
Much of what is meaningful in communication has an element of healthy questioning, even of disagreement. No proposition is so true that it can't be questioned, all dialogue is made meaningful by acting "devils advocate", suggesting an alternate line of reasoning that perhaps hadn't occurred to the person you are writing to. Of course in an age where reasoned discussion has been ditched for the simple Twitter page, "a content minimising format" to match the current limited attention span we find popular these days.
The old fashioned shorthand ttfn has morphed into lol, thx, wtf, btw, and such is our hurry, such is the pace of life we have to dispense with any form of old fashioned word -craft.
So I am a troll because I question and seek answers which are not the standard patter one has come to expect. Given a point of view I sometimes challenge it to make sure the person is convinced of their facts. Hearing a platitude or cliche, listening to prejudice or unthinking religiosity I feel it incumbent to put another point of view or challenge the basic hypothesise. If this is being a Troll then we need more of them.
We need more reasoned discussion, we need reasoned doubt, we need an alternative to the blind acceptance which is so often taken for the norm these days, we need to counter self serving acquiescence for the sake of peace and security, we need to be brave and challenge all ideas which are not our own and welcome it when someone challenges us.
Much of what is meaningful in communication has an element of healthy questioning, even of disagreement. No proposition is so true that it can't be questioned, all dialogue is made meaningful by acting "devils advocate", suggesting an alternate line of reasoning that perhaps hadn't occurred to the person you are writing to. Of course in an age where reasoned discussion has been ditched for the simple Twitter page, "a content minimising format" to match the current limited attention span we find popular these days.
The old fashioned shorthand ttfn has morphed into lol, thx, wtf, btw, and such is our hurry, such is the pace of life we have to dispense with any form of old fashioned word -craft.
So I am a troll because I question and seek answers which are not the standard patter one has come to expect. Given a point of view I sometimes challenge it to make sure the person is convinced of their facts. Hearing a platitude or cliche, listening to prejudice or unthinking religiosity I feel it incumbent to put another point of view or challenge the basic hypothesise. If this is being a Troll then we need more of them.
We need more reasoned discussion, we need reasoned doubt, we need an alternative to the blind acceptance which is so often taken for the norm these days, we need to counter self serving acquiescence for the sake of peace and security, we need to be brave and challenge all ideas which are not our own and welcome it when someone challenges us.
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