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Author Topic:   Peanut Gallery
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Message 121 of 1725 (516632)
07-26-2009 2:52 PM


Moderator Request
Could the performers from the Is My Hypothesis Valid??? thread take their discussion back to that thread? The peanut gallery is intended for onlookers, not participants. I know it's fun when actors roam out into the audience, but there's a limit. Thanks!

--Percy
EvC Forum Director

lyx2no
Member (Idle past 4716 days)
Posts: 1277
From: A vast, undifferentiated plane.
Joined: 02-28-2008


Message 122 of 1725 (516691)
07-26-2009 9:48 PM


Shun SO
If you ask me, mods are quite right not to ban SO. I, for one, don't want to live in a paternal world, so I will do my part to help deal with those of SO's racist attitudes. Rahvin has decided to shun SO and I fully support and join Rahvin in this.

Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions. Ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them.
Thomas Jefferson

Rahvin
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Posts: 4032
Joined: 07-01-2005
Member Rating: 9.2


Message 123 of 1725 (517092)
07-29-2009 12:49 PM


RevCrossHugger
This guy is rich:
I am upset and frankly somewhat fearful of what these guys will say next...
Insults only expose you for what you are. Google inferiority complex and borderline personality disorder. You are dangerous my friend get some help post haste. If you are on meds start taking them again, everyone will be safer. You scare me and I feel threatened by your remarks...
...your unethical stalking behavior.
THE INTERNET WORDS! THEY FRIGHTEN AND HURT ME!
Seriously. Threatening lawsuits? Accusations of mental disorders for calling him an idiot? Equating simple internet searches to identity theft and stalking?
Clearly a troll. I'd suggest banning if he weren't so amusing.

Replies to this message:
 Message 124 by Granny Magda, posted 07-29-2009 1:02 PM Rahvin has replied

Granny Magda
Member
Posts: 2462
From: UK
Joined: 11-12-2007
Member Rating: 4.0


Message 124 of 1725 (517097)
07-29-2009 1:02 PM
Reply to: Message 123 by Rahvin
07-29-2009 12:49 PM


Re: RevCrossHugger
Yeah. The truly sad thing is that there are plenty of perfectly civil and respectful posts over on RCH's thread, such as those from me and from Bailey. He has chosen to ignore those. Clearly he is not interested in genuine debate, preferring to play childish games.
Mutate and Survive

"A curious aspect of the theory of evolution is that everybody thinks he understands it." - Jacques Monod

This message is a reply to:
 Message 123 by Rahvin, posted 07-29-2009 12:49 PM Rahvin has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 125 by Rahvin, posted 07-29-2009 1:05 PM Granny Magda has seen this message but not replied

Rahvin
Member
Posts: 4032
Joined: 07-01-2005
Member Rating: 9.2


Message 125 of 1725 (517099)
07-29-2009 1:05 PM
Reply to: Message 124 by Granny Magda
07-29-2009 1:02 PM


Re: RevCrossHugger
I made a nice and topic-related post about two pages back. Didn't reply to that one either. Whole thing was driven off-course when he started appealing to the authority of his allegedly-fictitious Theology degree, as if that would even help his argument.
He doesn't want to debate. He wants to bait, and stir up shit. Personally, I think it's rather amusing, though I regret now spending the time on a well-reasoned post and wasting it on a troll like him.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 124 by Granny Magda, posted 07-29-2009 1:02 PM Granny Magda has seen this message but not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 126 by DevilsAdvocate, posted 07-29-2009 3:50 PM Rahvin has replied
 Message 129 by Blue Jay, posted 07-29-2009 11:55 PM Rahvin has replied

DevilsAdvocate
Member (Idle past 3101 days)
Posts: 1548
Joined: 06-05-2008


Message 126 of 1725 (517117)
07-29-2009 3:50 PM
Reply to: Message 125 by Rahvin
07-29-2009 1:05 PM


Re: RevCrossHugger
I think the best thing to do now would be to totally ignore any of his posts.
I am not trying to be cruel but I detest liars. It was actually comical because I had previously attended that school and I got really suspicious when he started naming bogus degrees. He probably thought it was safe to pick a religious college in the local area where he could state he garnered a theology degree from. He picked the wrong one.
I am done with RCH though. I put forth the evidence and will let him have fun with whatever is left of his thread. However, I doubt anyone would want to play with him after he threw his temper tantrum.
Is it me or is this website just a magnet for the bottom feeders of religious fundamentalism/extremism and pseudoscience?
Now onto my next challenge, 'Smooth Operator' and his geocentrical banter!

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
Dr. Carl Sagan

This message is a reply to:
 Message 125 by Rahvin, posted 07-29-2009 1:05 PM Rahvin has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 127 by Rahvin, posted 07-29-2009 4:09 PM DevilsAdvocate has not replied

Rahvin
Member
Posts: 4032
Joined: 07-01-2005
Member Rating: 9.2


Message 127 of 1725 (517119)
07-29-2009 4:09 PM
Reply to: Message 126 by DevilsAdvocate
07-29-2009 3:50 PM


Re: RevCrossHugger
Is it me or is this website just a magnet for the bottom feeders of religious fundamentalism/extremism and pseudoscience?
Are you kidding? The ones we get here are relatively tame, and the few genuine crazies we get don't stick around long.
Now onto my next challenge, 'Smooth Operator' and his geocentrical banter!
Have fun with that one. He seems to be coherent enough to read and write English clearly, so while his lunacy is worse than tesla's, at least his posting is easier to understand.
The only reason i;m not playing with the chewtoy is the temptation to bait his racist, white-supremacist garbage just to try to get him banned. Better to sit back and laugh at the idiot than sink to a level still significantly above his and get myself a suspension. My ex-stepdaughter is half black, and my current girlfriend is 25% Japanese/25% Native American. Most of my friends have been nonwhite. Stormfront assholes really bother me - they're the internet version of the KKK and the Nazis all rolled into one giant shitball.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 126 by DevilsAdvocate, posted 07-29-2009 3:50 PM DevilsAdvocate has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 128 by onifre, posted 07-29-2009 4:28 PM Rahvin has not replied

onifre
Member (Idle past 2951 days)
Posts: 4854
From: Dark Side of the Moon
Joined: 02-20-2008


Message 128 of 1725 (517121)
07-29-2009 4:28 PM
Reply to: Message 127 by Rahvin
07-29-2009 4:09 PM


Re: RevCrossHugger
My ex-stepdaughter is half black, and my current girlfriend is 25% Japanese/25% Native American. Most of my friends have been nonwhite. Stormfront assholes really bother me - they're the internet version of the KKK and the Nazis all rolled into one giant shitball.
I feel you on this, being hispanic myself and obviously my daughters and most of my friends are as well. Plus the comedy group I run with is made up of a diverse group (arabic, black, white, hispanic), I've just been able to see past such ignorance in people and just deal with what they're saying, at the moment. Don't know if you read about the story I wrote on Phats "drug" thread, about the Klan member I ended up having a few drinks with. It's like this when I travel most of the time. I'm in places where no other hispanics are around except for the gardners and cooks. Their overall ideology is irrelevant, at least to me. What they bring to the table in that specific discussion is all I truly concern myself with.
But I feel you, and I respect that you'll ignore him on that basis.
- Oni

If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.
~George Carlin

This message is a reply to:
 Message 127 by Rahvin, posted 07-29-2009 4:09 PM Rahvin has not replied

Blue Jay
Member (Idle past 2698 days)
Posts: 2843
From: You couldn't pronounce it with your mouthparts
Joined: 02-04-2008


Message 129 of 1725 (517152)
07-29-2009 11:55 PM
Reply to: Message 125 by Rahvin
07-29-2009 1:05 PM


Re: RevCrossHugger
Hi, Rahvin.
Rahvin writes:
Whole thing was driven off-course when he started appealing to the authority of his allegedly-fictitious Theology degree, as if that would even help his argument.
Wait, his degree is allegedly fictitious?
Why would he allege a fictitious degree?

-Bluejay (a.k.a. Mantis, Thylacosmilus)
Darwin loves you.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 125 by Rahvin, posted 07-29-2009 1:05 PM Rahvin has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 130 by Rahvin, posted 07-30-2009 2:50 AM Blue Jay has seen this message but not replied
 Message 131 by Richard Townsend, posted 07-30-2009 2:39 PM Blue Jay has seen this message but not replied

Rahvin
Member
Posts: 4032
Joined: 07-01-2005
Member Rating: 9.2


Message 130 of 1725 (517166)
07-30-2009 2:50 AM
Reply to: Message 129 by Blue Jay
07-29-2009 11:55 PM


Re: RevCrossHugger
RCH claimed to hold a degree; Dr. A alleged that the specified university offers no such degree. Therefore the degree to whose authority RHC appealed is allegedly fictitious.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 129 by Blue Jay, posted 07-29-2009 11:55 PM Blue Jay has seen this message but not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 133 by DevilsAdvocate, posted 08-01-2009 5:53 AM Rahvin has not replied

Richard Townsend
Member (Idle past 4732 days)
Posts: 103
From: London, England
Joined: 07-16-2008


Message 131 of 1725 (517250)
07-30-2009 2:39 PM
Reply to: Message 129 by Blue Jay
07-29-2009 11:55 PM


Re: RevCrossHugger
Bluejay, I understood you, even if Rahvin didn't!

This message is a reply to:
 Message 129 by Blue Jay, posted 07-29-2009 11:55 PM Blue Jay has seen this message but not replied

Rahvin
Member
Posts: 4032
Joined: 07-01-2005
Member Rating: 9.2


Message 132 of 1725 (517410)
07-31-2009 2:39 PM


RevCrossHugger
SUBBIE WRITES (AND VIOLATES THE SPIRIT OF THIS DISCUSSION, AND THE GUIDELINES IE NEEDLING)
I hereby nominate RCH for the "Most Whiny Debater" and "Thinnest Skin Ever" awards. His exemplary performance in the field of taking legitimate criticism as personal assaults demonstrates the absolute best in persecution-complex-debating style.
Edited by Rahvin, : No reason given.

DevilsAdvocate
Member (Idle past 3101 days)
Posts: 1548
Joined: 06-05-2008


Message 133 of 1725 (517484)
08-01-2009 5:53 AM
Reply to: Message 130 by Rahvin
07-30-2009 2:50 AM


Re: RevCrossHugger
Rahvin writes:
RCH claimed to hold a degree; Dr. A
Actually Dr. A and myself are two different people, but I could see how you got us mixed up.
Rahvin writes:
Dr. A alleged that the specified university offers no such degree.
That and I looked him up in my college's online alumni database. Which BTW is not illegal, since he plastered his name on public forums all over the internet. It actually only took me a couple of minutes of discovering his name since he posted it along with his mailing address in several other forums because he was soliciting donations for his 'charities'. I was actually generous enough not to post this name or address on this forum.
BTW, challenging one's credentials on an online debate forum using legal means is NOT illegal and does not constitute slander/libel or anything else he wants to call it.
If he hadn't have brought up the topic of himself having a theology degree at a college I personally attend than I would have never had challenged him on it.
Sorry just had to correct the account. Will leave this topic alone now since it is now past and opening.

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
Dr. Carl Sagan

This message is a reply to:
 Message 130 by Rahvin, posted 07-30-2009 2:50 AM Rahvin has not replied

DevilsAdvocate
Member (Idle past 3101 days)
Posts: 1548
Joined: 06-05-2008


Message 134 of 1725 (517619)
08-01-2009 10:25 PM


I believe Smooth Operator is a Troll
Here is my most recent discussion with Smooth Operator and some of his replies:
SO writes:
Myself writes:
I also mentioned the Sun or are you going to argue that the Sun is less than 91 million miles from the Earth?
It probablly is, but I'm not sure. I'm accepting this distance for now.
I am so glad we have to run all our scientific theories and research through your exhaustive knowledge. What would ever do without you?
LOL, you do realize that the same scientists that determined the Earth to be on average 91 million miles from the Earth are the same ones that accept the heliocentric model of the solar system?
SO writes:
Myself writes:
How do you explain that Venus is never more than 46 degrees away from the Sun and Mercury even a small degree angle from the Sun? Or how do you explain how the phases of Venus, the Moon and every other planetary body in the solar system fit perfectly in a heliocentric model of the solar system? How does that fit into your geocentric model?
I already told you. With a Tychonic model where all the planets orbit the Sun except for Earth, and it's moon. The Sun with the other planets than in turn orbits the Earth.
Or it can be explained in Ptolomaic model, using epycicles.
LOL, you are a troll and just doing this for kicks aren't you! You even admit you have no fucking clue what you are talking about! You can't even agree upon a single model of the solar system.

Signs of a troll:
The term 'Internet troll', originated in a comparison with the angler who 'trolled' a trailing bait to catch a fish. But for non-anglers, the mental image of a troll is the slabby, thick, moss-laded creature of Scandinavian folk lore, further popularised by Terry Pratchett in the Discworld novels, and J. K. Rowling in the Harry Potter books. This sad figure of fun lived under bridges and stratles the unwary, but is easily outsmarted by anyone with any intelligence, or a small dog.
The truth is somewhere between the two.
Habitat

The Internet doesn't have ancient slimey stone bridges, but trolls lurk around in quiet corners of the internet; while they can pop up almost anywhere, they thrive in distant relatively uninhabited corners.
Social Interaction

Trolls don't have friends. On the internet, because they interact with human beings, they can convince themselves that they are important, the centre of the universe - that, to them, is better than any friendship. Don't foget, the troll thinks he is always right, and therefore better than other folk. In real life, exactly the opposite applies. the troll has no friends and virtually no interaction with other people.
If he's a teen (many are), then he lives in his bedroom, trolling, playong computer games with 'friends' (who he doesn't know at all), and joining roleplay sites, where - of course - he is a hero, or a powerful villain, who is respected in an inverse ratio to the respect he feels for himself.
If he's an adult, then he has serious social issues. He may work, where people think he's a weirdo, and avoid him, he may sponge off his parents or be 'looking for work', which means he blames everyone for his problems. Except himself.
Most people who are out of work are nothing like the stereotype; most want to work, and gain their self respect through work and being part of the world; but the troll IS the stereotype whining scrounger, to whom the world owes a living.
Mental Health

It would be easy to dismiss trolls as mentally ill. Easy and wrong. Most would not score significantly on mental illness assessments. But most are simply immature. Fair enough in a teenager, and they have a chance of growing out of it (though the longer they leave it, the harder they may find it to break the habit). But in adults, it's simply sad.
Once upon a time, they would have been called 'inadequate psychopaths'; attention seeking loners, forever feeling sorry for themselves, but too bone idle to lift themselves out of their self-selected mire. Some live in a fantasy world, and find it hard to concentrate on real life; they can't make eye contact, and will say just about anything, frequently contradicting a previous statement.
Intelligence

Most trolls are pretty thick. Let's face it, it doesn'ttake much intelligence to sus out that the troll life is a pretty pathetic one, and given the choice, even a gerbil would choose a more rewarding lifestyle.
Technique

You don't have to be highly intelligent to be an angler, though some would say that it's difficult to be a successful angler without intelligence. Trolls have all the basic skills, and some are successful, though this is often due to negligence by their victims.
Bait

Trolls lay a variety of baits. The real idiots go for single lines, such as religious bigotry in religious groups, overt misogynism in nurses' groups, and mind blowing subtly, such as "BILL GATES SUCKS" in microsoft support groups. Darwin tells us that if they get a response at that level, then why would they bother to expend what little brain power they have on a better post?
If basic bait fails, then the troll may use a variety of techniques, from sheer twaddle to mild insults, from a controversial view to completely irrelevant questions. Anything to get a response. The human flaw in a troll is a failure to tell the diference between "any response" and "approval". So insulting them merely encourages them. Invariably.
Playing the Fish

The skilled troll will then focus on a key responder; possibly the rudest, possibly not - but the one the troll thinks is most likley to keep responding. At this stage, other responders may be ignored. But if the original target drops out, then troll may turn to others. few trolls bother to play more than one sucker at a time. They can always come back later.
Tickling the Trout

Experienced trolls do not respond at random. Once they have a sucker in their sites, they control the conversation. One post may elicit a long, detailed and perfectly reasonable response, but that is not what the troll wants. So they'll often complete ignore the main argument (which they started!), and focus on one careless detail - a date wrong, a misspelling ofr their next attack. And then the same trick again. And again, so long as the sucker responds.
Explosives

When all else fails, the troll will do just what lazy anglers do: they'll drop explosives in the water, clean up and go home. The failed troll can be very abusive indeed.
Weaknesses

Trolls have no life, no power; but by manipulating others, even if for just a couple of exchanges, they have control.
If they can catch an acknowledged expert, so much the better for them.
There's no need ever to get caught by a troll, though it is amusing to see Mensa members frothing at the mouth.
Exploit their weaknesses, as they'd exploit yours.
Attention Need

Trolls are nothing without attention, just a monster under the bed. While the first post may be camoflaged, it really doesn't take rocket science to identify an active troll. The best response from fellow members of the group is simply to ignore it. And the best response from moderators is to delete their membership; quickly and cleanly, with no negotiation or second chance. The group is more important than one idiot.
Socially Inept

Trolls have no self respect and low self esteem, and cannot cope with normal human interaction; start with a bit of flattery, and they may be stuck for a response. Even if they recover, they will not able to react appropriately, which should convince everyone of their trollism.
Trolls foucus on their target, not the issue; additonally, most trolls can only pick on one person at a time. This leaves them wide open to paralysis when you talk about them, but not to them.



Do not feed the troll!



For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
Dr. Carl Sagan

Replies to this message:
 Message 135 by DevilsAdvocate, posted 08-02-2009 12:00 AM DevilsAdvocate has not replied

DevilsAdvocate
Member (Idle past 3101 days)
Posts: 1548
Joined: 06-05-2008


Message 135 of 1725 (517639)
08-02-2009 12:00 AM
Reply to: Message 134 by DevilsAdvocate
08-01-2009 10:25 PM


Re: I believe Smooth Operator is a Troll
BTW, I know I said do not feed the troll but I am trying to ensure that SO really is a troll first.
I am not 100% though. Anyone want to venture a guess?

This message is a reply to:
 Message 134 by DevilsAdvocate, posted 08-01-2009 10:25 PM DevilsAdvocate has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 136 by cavediver, posted 08-02-2009 4:12 AM DevilsAdvocate has not replied

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