Schooling trolls with logic, research and well-reasoned arguments assumes that trolls are willing to listen and respond to such things with humility and self-awareness- if only their betters would open their eyes and show them the way!
Just don’t feed them, folks! They’re not looking to be educated, they’re looking to shit in somebody’s Wheaties, and arguing with them just gives them more ammo.
Trolls are people too.
It’s not necessarily that you’ve left a chink in your well-reasoned armour, it’s that I’m going to actively misinterpret what you say and troll you based on that deliberate misinterpretation.
I don’t care if I’m proven wrong a million times, I made you waste your time on a bad faith actor. I have the power, even though I have none. I win.
The fact that it is actually possible to have a real debate with some people allows me to convince you that I might be reasonable enough to change my mind. You shouldn’t be so naive as to assume that anyone who initially engages with you in anything other than a perfectly reasonable manner is worth talking to. I destroy the very concept of discourse and you help me with your positivity.
If you fall back on snark then I have poisoned you enough to bear some of the responsibility for undermining the concept of reasoned debate. I win again.
Only people who wish to destroy have any power, even if it instantiates a lust for power and poisons the very concept of its acquisition. I cannot imagine true strength of character and do not believe it can even exist so I opt for only the basest interactions. I am the proof of my own thesis and though I may be intelligent enough to have internalised complex psychological concepts, I am inured to ever experiencing the promise of synergy. I prefer to feel sophisticated rather than clear minded.
True power is a myth on the level of self mastery, I prefer to writhe in the throes of hatred, which feels as if it at least emulates that myth.
Sontag once argued that children between the ages of 12-16 should be sent away to farms where they can learn to be human. Furthermore her plan envisions people in their 50s going back to school to prevent their mental stagnation. I’m not always sure that it’s a horrible idea, it seems that a fair number of people would benefit from being reminded that those other flesh sacks around them are actual humans.
True. Does that give them the right to treat others as less than themselves? I think that’s the problem people have with trolls.
Sometimes, that just doesn’t work, sadly.
This often doesn’t work, since it requires everyone to abstain from feeding the trolley. So, while I’m not sure a well-written response would be effective all of the time, I do think it’s something people don’t try often enough.
Yes, teenagers these days are too unfocused, with their angst and their aggressive insecurity. Maybe they should be sent to camps where they could learn to concentrate better.
Do not argue with a fool; they will only drag you down to their level, and then beat you with experience.
You seem quite conversant in troll-thought. 
I try to make understand but progress hard is.
Some people just want to watch the world burn. But #notalltrolls.
Awesome. That’s probably the best analysis of what goes on in comment threads that I’ve ever read.
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