Under the bridge again

September 20, 2007

Media Influencer has a good piece on Trolls, looking at the way in which Andrew Keen avoids debate in favour of provocation for the sake of publicity. Now there is a role for provocation and a danger that many an online forum or workshop can degenerate into a fluffy bunny group hug, although Neurophilosophy reports that bees group hug hornets to death so bunnies may be more dangerous than I thought. What is becoming increasingly clear is that we need some new language and conventions, or at least some more distinctions. Being provocative does not a troll make, however not engaging in debate, merely repeating the original provocation (something the Frank is good at) seems to me to provide evidence of a desire to have culinary exchanges with passing goats.

Now there is a related issue here, which is use of an ad hominem argument. A form that I don’t think this can be dismissed completely. If someone argues a position, but their life or behaviour contradicts that then it is legitimate to point it out. If some becomes a troll then the direct labeling (with cause and argument) is again legitimate. At least an ad hominem has a quality of honesty, it is direct and its subject self evident. There is a more dishonest form, frequently used by people (Uncle Jerry did it recently in ActKM) which is a special type of Troll like behaviour. Here a comment is made along the lines of People who say X are obviously stupid. The target of the attack is generally known to a significant number of participants and now has a choice. To respond to the attack, allows the attacker to say something line Oh you, I didn’t mean you but if the cap fits … or similar. To fail to respond can be seen as an acknowledgment of the the statement.

It would be interesting to create a taxonomy of trolls.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

About the Cynefin Company

The Cynefin Company (formerly known as Cognitive Edge) was founded in 2005 by Dave Snowden. We believe in praxis and focus on building methods, tools and capability that apply the wisdom from Complex Adaptive Systems theory and other scientific disciplines in social systems. We are the world leader in developing management approaches (in society, government and industry) that empower organisations to absorb uncertainty, detect weak signals to enable sense-making in complex systems, act on the rich data, create resilience and, ultimately, thrive in a complex world.
ABOUT USSUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER

Cognitive Edge Ltd. & Cognitive Edge Pte. trading as The Cynefin Company and The Cynefin Centre.

© COPYRIGHT 2024

< Prev

Reflections on a journey

Sonja speaking: I was first introduced to Dave and the then Cynefin set of methods ...

More posts

Next >

Creating a culture of talent retention

There is much global hype around Talent and the unique problem of attracting and retaining ...

More posts

linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram