How to forget stupid, annoying internet commenter

[DolorousEdd]

I currently want to ignore and forget a debate with a stupid person, but it somehow doesn't get out of my head. Whenever I think of its worthlessness and stupidity in order to forget it, I immediately feel engaged again. I could more or less forget it until I saw notifications of two new responses, and I just know they will be completely stupid, ignoring any argument or logic and full of self-assurance. I think it would be worse if I actually read the messages. Maybe I'm wrong, but it doesn't seem worth it, and I'd rather just ignore.


The original comment was completely exaggerated and out of place and doesn't stand any scrutiny and I just wanted to subtly make aware of this fact at first. I have approached the matter several times and ways with purely logical arguments, but I always got shallow commonplaces or nonsensical, smug retorts. Not in a trollish manner, but just in the way of stupidity and not being able to handle a debate in an intelligent way (while at the same time making a show of what may be deemed correct). A mixture of not wanting to say or understanding anything though "knowing it better", basically by virtue of my response being in the past, whereas this person's is in the present... And I'm not even interested in this personal crap, but just want there to be some basic sense. But this would immediately get turned back to "my personal" idea of sense, and BS like that. But this is just by way of explanation, I'd like to ignore it.

I feel tempted to go back, although it would be just to make clear what I think of this person's intelligence. I think it was because I tried some very fundamental arguments, but it always got turned back to a primitive level, that I can't easily let go and forget about it. It would be like accepting stupidity for intelligence. Ideas?

 

[Eudaimon]

When it comes down to it there's much better things you can do with your time than trying to prove yourself to someone online by arguing. Let them have the last word and just move on with your life, especially if the conversation is just pot shots and veiled insults. If this argument is one of the most important (emotionally invested) things in your life then move on anyways and get your priorities straightened out.

It's okay to have differing opinions, viewpoints and mindsets. People develop differently due to how they are raised, life experiences, cultural beliefs and priorities. Values shift for every situation and people may do things in seemingly nonsensical ways to get what they want. That doesn't mean it's not logical, it just doesn't make sense (and can be infuriating) to others.

That said, decide how much time and energy you want to spend dealing with them and don't give anymore than that. And if they try to stalk you or anything you can always tell them you're not interested in them, report them or mess around... whichever suits your fancy.

Best of luck whatever you decide.

 

[DolorousEdd]

Well, it's not about the rationality of it or simply deciding to do something else. It's about the psychological fact that it creeps back in by some backdoor, or that I get reminded of it somehow or by some context, which can be the context of thinking itself, as that partly ended up being the topic. So that's where my question is aimed at, the fact of not being able to forget effectively, not about what I would prefer or do in the meantime.

"Values shift for every situation and people may do things in seemingly nonsensical ways to get what they want. That doesn't mean it's not logical, it just doesn't make sense (and can be infuriating) to others."

By logic I mean logic of statements and communication. If I hold a position, it's simply nonsense to defend it by claiming that nothing certain can be said about something (even if it's something relatively common) and that therefore I hold an unassailable position. Something uncertain can hardly be at the same time unassailable, and one can at least check one's criteria and see if the statement applies to its full extent. It's also not about winning but about acknowledging the potential limits of validity of statements, and that I may either adjust my statements, my certainty, or the universal status of my position, or just act consistently with my degree of interest. But by taking a mostly personal position and suggesting it to be also an unassailable argumentative type, but not reacting in any consistent way to reasonable arguments, and always coming back with a foolish standard reaction, one is not taking part in human communication, but doing something destructive... It's not about disagreement anymore, or just having one's say, but about "saying things" and defending it by trying to sabotage to think about it...

What the heck is the point of insistence and trying to get a wedge in if my position is fairly simple, inexplicable (or permanently unexplained) and doesn't work with a whole range of context-specific arguments and lacks inner consistency? But for now I feel stupid enough, and I think I'm bored of it, which might be good.

 

[DolorousEdd]

Mh, no, not gone. I just want to kick that thing real hard, and if I ever see it again, I will, and I'm sure it will be fully deserved. I don't accept this vegetable standard of communication as a fair argument or behaviour. (BTW. somewhere completely different.) Maybe I shouldn't have tried not to be angry from the beginning and then even afterwards.