Quote from: Dog Deever on 20 August, 2010, 07:13:27 PM
There is a difference between saying someone is a dick and saying someone is being a dick.
If you really, honestly believe that saying someone is being a dick once constitutes bullying then I'm afraid I'm in danger of saying 'don't be a dick'. And citing wikipedia as a set of rules for debate and discussion is laughable, you could have written that yourself 10 minutes ago. And who sets these rules for debate? I didn't sign up to it.
You do understand how wiki or in fact any encyclopedia works, right?
Any and all articulates should have citations and/or references. Those citations/references should point to your sources or evidence. If you have done a degree and completed a dissertation you have to do the same thing: show who and where you are quoting or citing and also list all references to back up any other points you have made.
Though I do not hold a degree and have never attempted to try, i understand this.
This would therefore be how you spot some one who quickly edited wiki, by checking the sources cited on the page. if there are "citations needed" then those points should be taken with a liberal pinch of salt. If you had taken the time to use the links at the bottom of the wiki page you could have found out more about the general rules of formal debate and how people approach it
but if you need further clarification here is a starting point link to the Oxford Union,
http://www.oxford-union.org/debates/formal_debates
who are a long standing debating society (Founded in 1823) and like many societies the world over, which, as I mentioned happen to be cited at the bottom of the wiki debate page, have strict rules for formal debate most of which bare a very close similarity and differentiate an argument from a discussion or debate. but I will let you do all the donkey work to disprove that.
http://www.oxford-union.org/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/3074/Definitive_Rules_TT10_3.pdf
Rule 39(b)i which states
"(i) No expressions of a personal or offensive nature may be used at any meeting of the Society. The Chair may
call on any Member to explain any expression he has used; such explanation shall be received without question
as to the speaker's intention, but if unsatisfied the Chair may call on the Member concerned to withdraw and/or
apologize, and the Member concerned shall immediately and without question submit to the authority of the
Chair."
so there is just one example of what you are not supposed to do if you are discussing or debating. unless you think I made up all those websites as well as editing the wiki page
and on bullying, definition taken from taken from Cambridgeshire County Council website
http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/education/parents/welfare/Bullying/whatisbullying.htm
"Types of bullying
There are various types of bullying, but most have three things in common:
1. It is deliberately hurtful behaviour.
2. It is repeated over time.
3. There is an imbalance of power, which makes it hard for those being bullied to defend themselves."
calling people offensive names or using offensive similes can be and is classed as "deliberately hurtful behavior" and is one of the basic tools of bullying.
To quote Michael Franti
"But dehumanizing the victim makes things simpler
It's like breathing with a respirator
It eases the conscience of even the most conscious
and calculating violator
Words can reduce a person to an object,
something more easy to hate
An inanimate entity, completely disposable,
no problem to obliterate"
And this is one of the main reasons civil discussion and debate has strict rules of conduct. And why anything else is just an argument.