Arguing With Idiots

I ran across this statement from my friend Amy this morning and it simply made my day:

Amy Chorew – @amychorew
Do not argue with an idiot.  He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience

Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed a definite increase in trolling and confrontations taking place on various social networks.  I’ve watched friends “debate” with others on Twitter for hours over something that really didn’t make a difference.  I’ve watched others go after each other in Facebook Groups for 150+ comments that totally go off course from the original post/question because of a single statement made by someone.

What is worse is that the argument will escalate for hours on end with several others jumping into the disagreement adding their input which does nothing but fuel the fire of the idiot who made the first controversial statement.

Dealing With Idiots or Trolls

Here’s the thing that most of us normal rational people do not understand.  There are some people in this world that thrive on confrontation and attention.  They love the ability to ruffle someone’s feathers and get them worked up.  What makes it worse, is when we give them the attention they thrive on by engaging them in debate over meaningless things. All this does is make things worse for ourselves and others around that may get drawn into the debate in heat of the moment.

Remember, these people have experience at causing conflicts and they thrive on arguing with others.  So, the next time you encounter a situation like this, remember that no matter how right you may be, you cannot defeat an idiot as they will bring you down to their level and then beat you with their experience.