intellectual aggression and semantics

>>For example, if a person wishes to confuse or destroy the arguments of another, he uses subtle logical word play or semantic traps. He can ask another person to define what they mean by every word that they say and then the person gets so busy doing that, that everything he says need a new definition. This gets to be a sport among intellectuals and is the basis of sophistry, logical expertise, high polish and skill at word play.<<

I've seen a awful lot of this sort of thing in mailing lists. It's almost like a sport, isn't it?... In those lists, I was always struck by what seemed to be a combination of narcissistic and compulsive dynamics in the discussion.... Maybe on lists, where people can use >> to quote the other person, the semantic debates and word-plays are more intense than in face-to-face discussions.

Replies:

Help, by Robin Sircus, 11/4/98 re:help, by John, 11/5/98

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