Don't feed the troll...

[rurpy at yahoo.com]

On 07/01/2013 01:38 PM, Antoon Pardon wrote:
> > Op 01-07-13 16:02, rurpy at yahoo.com schreef:
> > 
>> >> You claim "collective experience" is not reliable and dismiss it
>> >> in favor of your own theory, flaming trolls is a better response.
>> >> And your evidence for that?  Nothing (that I've read so far).
> > 
> > You can decide all for yourself on how you want to handle trolls.
> > But consider the following possibilty. A couple of trolls that
> > are good in getting each other riled up. The regular members
> > who mostly have killfiled them. Then who will be burdened most
> > by the trolls? The newcomers. The regulars may succeed in creating
> > a coccoon with a welcoming and positive atmosphere, but they
> > have by doing so blinded themselves to how the group looks like
> > to outsiders and so have no idea how hostile the group may have
> > become to newbees.

That is a possibility.  But your "cocoon" senario is highly
improbable because,
1. There will never be 100% compliance with any consensus here,
and
2. There will always be enough backscatter and other leakage 
that all cocoons will be will rather permeable.  If you'll recall 
it was that permeability, and the cost it imposes on the large 
majority of people here who object to it, that was an argument 
against your proposal, back at the start of this thread.

Even allowing the possibility of two trolls mixing it up [*1], 
how does your proposal, to amplify the volume of hostility several 
times, improve the situation for your newbee?

Far better to simply remind your newbee that most here feel 
that not feeding trolls is the most appropriate response and
then demonstrate that in practice.

>> >> Ironically your flame war with Nikos in
>> >>    http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2013-June/650905.html
>> >> provides evidence for the validity of the collective experience you
>> >> dismiss, that engaging in flame wars with trolls simply produces more
>> >> flames, hostility begets hostility.  I, and I think the majority of
>> >> people here, find that very unpleasant.  You have become (as predicted
>> >> by the collective experience you dismiss) as offensive as any troll.
> > 
> > A lot of unfairness stays in the world because people find it unpleasant
> > to fight it and even to observe fighting it.

And a lot of misery is caused by people enforcing their idea 
of "right". 

----
[*1]
You and Nikos in the "python adds an extra half space..." thread
might be an actual example of your hypothetical: two trolls 
intentionally provoking each other and in the process, successfully
provoking a lot of emotional reaction from others.