Dear Dido:
Perhaps, some of these individuals have something
to prove?
It is hard to say, other than you have
individuals that have switched one set
of loyalties for another set.
When they were in the "truth" chances are
that they were the same type of individuals.
Some people just get off on showing the world
what they know.
Respectfully,
The Wanderer
Intellectual bullies- have you come across them?
by dido 45 Replies latest jw friends
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The wanderer
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Undecided
As far as creation goes, Moses figured it all out. He knew the names of everyone from Adam and Eve, even how long it took to create the whole universe. Of course everyone makes mistakes, even God. Look at his angels, some were good but the Devil came from him too. Was that a mistake or did he want the whole creation to go bad like it did? Either we are an experiment that he enjoys watching or he doesn't care. He took perfection from us with Adam and we have been going down hill ever since. Of course he is going to fix everything very soon now, in this generation(whatever that is) by killing everybody that isn't a JW and resurrecting those fortunate enough to die before then and giving them a second chance.
All you have to do to understand his purpose is read Revelation, it's all there, revealed to John so we would know all about what God is going to do in the end times.
Ken P.
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Fe2O3Girl
This is a discussion board. If I make an assertion or state an opinion on here, I have to be ready to defend my position.
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sir82
Of course I don't know you from Adam (no pun intended), but my take on it...
The key is, I think, your statements on wanting evidence for evolution. Some posters provided such evidence, but you said things along the lines of "it's too complicated", indicating a lack of desire to examine the evidence. I think what they were looking for is either "OK I accept your evidence", or "No, your evidence is bad bcause of X Y Z..."
You make statements that you "prefer" to believe in evolution. I would "prefer" to believe that I am loved, worshipped, and adored by all women who behold me, but my "preference" doesn't mean that that is reality. "Preference" is wonderful, but in trying to determine what reality is, it's kind of irrelevant.
The point of the other posters is, what does the evidence point to? If you are unwilling to examine the evidence, after you explicitly requested it, that doesn't give you credibility in the eyes of those who posted what you asked for.
My $0.02, take it or leave it.
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Abaddon
dido, you have elevated the ability to feel sorry for yourself and blame others for your own actions and inactions to an art form.
I know if I wanted smilies and popularity and 'well met Abaddon' fluff I should be less honest. But I don't want to be dishonest to be popular.
Thanks for the childish PM by the way; good to see you're unwilling to let people see you behave like that in public.
First; what part of DISCUSSION FORUM don't you understand? I don't see 'agreement' forum ANYWHERE
You join a discussion about evolution and creation. Virtually every post you make reveals just how little you know about the biological sciences (you might not like this but it is a fact). Despite this you persist in (without any effort or study on your part) blandly acting as though your uninformed opinion was something that mattered to a discussion about evolution or creation. You act surprised when people DISCUSS your opinion with you and offended when they point out that you are uninformed about the subject. How can one have a discussion with someone if you are not allowed to point out the other is wrong and/or doesn't know what they are talking about (if this is the case).
Should we lie to protect your ego, or fawn over your opinions without questioning them?
Opinions are like assholes; everyone has one.
Yours (on evolution) is simply one that shows you haven't studied the subject; I love talking to Creationists who really really know a lot about evolution but to this date I can count them on the fingers of one hand. Check the threads, it is always the same;
- Insistent Creationist who doesn't know much about evolution.
- Well-informed evolutionists who also know about Creationism.
- Creationist gets upset their lack of knowledge about evolution gets pointed out but carries on like nothing happened (no "Gollly, I didn't know that").
- Evolutionists get increasingly exasperated at having to explain simple details of theory Creationist has assumed they know enough about to discard as rubbish.
- Exit Creationist in a huff saying how unfair it all is.
... the follow-on "boo-hoo" thread is optional...
You will find someone who has strong opinions and can show they have valid or arguable reasons for those gets a different reaction to someone who has strong opinons but shows they know next to nothing about the subject they have strong opinions on. Despite the outcome of these two scenarios depending on the level of knowledge of the person with strong opinions, you make it out you're being hard done by. No consideration of your attitude sucking what-so-ever.
You seem to want the WORTH of your opinion to be equal to those who actually know something about the subject.
Tough luck, it isn't, and YOU are the one who has proved this by your statements. You are the one who has proved you arrogance and complacence by refusing to even consider studying the subject as it is 'boring', yet you still feel your opinion is a valid one and take umbrage at anyone suggesting otherwise.
Again, right to an opinion does not mean all opinions are equal.
Obviously with your car, your health, your finances, you would consider going to someone who was characterised by 99% of other professionals in the field as incompetent or dishonest as madness.
With your beliefs about the accuracy of evolution you copy the opinions of those that are characterised by 99% of other professionals in the field as incompetent or dishonest; huh?
But you won't engage with any common sense like that as it's all about your opinion, not about the discussion of a subject based on facts. I am sorry; I really thought we were having a discussion based on facts not on opinions.
I go to length to state in discussions like this that it isn't about intelligence, it is about education. I am no smarter NOW than I was when I believed in Creationism. I am considerably better educated.
Some people (and groups of people) simply can't stand someone suggesting the reason they have a different opinion is that they don't know enough about a subject - even if this is proved in every post or thread such discussions take place in.
If I am an intellectual bully for not satisfying people' egotistic insistence they know better than tens of thousands of scientists, so be it. Or maybe I just call a duck a duck because of the evidence it supplies and some people don't like being called a duck?
Get over your opinion, and either avoid discussion where you being disagreeed with will make you have a teenage tantrum, or be willing to invest the time and effort so that you actually bring something worthwhile to the discussion. I certainly wouldn't butt into a discussion about Bushido with a contrary opinion unless I knew my ground, and then (as I have on this board) if I made an error or had over-estimated my competence would act accordingly rather than carrying on as though I wasn't making errors left, right and centre.
As for elitist; if there were more intellectual elitists in the world it would be a better place. Smarts and education certainly doesn't make someone worth more than the next person. It does mean they are less likely to believe in rubbish.
Of course, I am sure someone will associate intellectual elitism with lack of compasion, or humanity, but such invalid linkages don't some as a surprise to someone who sometimes gets thought of as an intellectual elitist (which is funny, as I know some REALLY smart people and I'm not one of them).
Oh, and what's the term for posting a thread to specifically stir up antipathy against another poster? Obviously NOT intellectual bully; scapegoating prehaps? Manipulation?
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greendawn
I also find that some evolutionists on this forum are a little overassertive and overconfident with their opinions at times but they are generally very well informed and know all the details so to argue with them successfully one needs a strong background on the issues being debated.
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shera
I have seen it here plenty, I just don't care if people don't agree with me.
Everyone has their own opinion and I respect that and I expect the same from others. If I don't get it..o well..carry on.
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funkyderek
dido:
I recently posted on a thread and couldn`t believe the amount of intellectual bullies on there.
I know the thread you mean (http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/121947/1.ashx), but my interpretation is considerably different from yours.
I was a jw for 25 years, left school 35 years ago and they expected me to know all the info on evolution, and because i didn`t i`m `stupid`.
That is absolutely not true. It is not what happened at all. You asked questions about evolution, which is fine. Asking questions is a great way to learn. The problem only began when you ignored the multiple detailed answers you got and continued to assert that your question was unanswerable.
I prefer to believe in creation
Clearly. However, your preference is no excuse for ignoring information pertinent to the debate. By all means, say that you don't understand it, don't wish to understand it and believe based on your desires rather than the evidence but don't expect to have your opinions treated with respect.
but it is obviously too simple an explanation for them.
No, it is an inadequate explanation, one which ignores the overwhelming body of evidence. (Perhaps that's why you prefer it.)
It showed me that people that have got `knowledge are puffed up`,
I thought the people who had most knowledge of the subject were remarkably humble and level-headed, repeatedly providing you with the answers you pretended to want, until eventually you gave up because you didn't want to hear them. The arrogance I saw in that thread came from those who thought their uninformed opinions were as valuable as those of people who had actually spent time and effort studying the subject in question (namely you and whyizit).
and i can just imagine what they were like when they were jw`s, they probably left because they couldn`t climb up the ladder with position.
It's strange because your behaviour reminded me somewhat of how we were trained to react as JWs when we encountered someone who'd actually studied the Bible. We were told that they were full of "worldly wisdom" and didn't really want the truth, so we should avoid debating with them. I can't help feeling that perhaps some remnants of the idea that "worldly wisdom" is valueless has remained with you.
Have any of you felt bullied on here just because you don`t agree with other`s?
No, but then I've never expected to be able to go into a debate when I know next to nothing about the subject and refuse to learn.
Have all ex jw`s got degree`s or are there some average people that have just done high school? After all weren`t we encouraged not to further our education? Anyway, i would like to hear your experiences.
I don't have a degree. I scraped a (now largely useless) diploma in IT but that's the extent of my formal further education. I know a lot about certain subjects because I have personally studied them in depth. I debate based on the evidence, not on whatever letters someone may or may not have after their name.
By the way, i noticed the thread died a death after i stopped posting, i must have been providing their entertainment, `let`s all bully her, she`s stupid` scenario!
The thread's still going strong. It's got a much higher signal-to-noise ratio now that people no longer have to keep answering the same inane questions for someone who wasn't listening anyway.
Perhaps you should reflect on why a group of intelligent, amiable people would all start to "intellectually bully" you. Perhaps they are not the ones at fault.
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TopHat
Abandon said:
Opinions are like assholes; everyone has one.
Well, I guess you are showing us WHAT you are: LOL
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Genesis
Intellectual bullies- have you come across them? This thread titles does really sounds like an Awake's title... I can even imagine the cover, a nerdz with a calculator trying to attack people with C++ formulas lol ! Hey its friday, have a nice weekend folks ! Joff