Well, as nobody has yet noticed, I haven't edited this blog in a while. This is partly because of my laziness, and partly because I'm unmotivated due to my utter lack of an audience. (yet) But today I have been somewhat inspired to write a new post, and as the title suggests, my motivation has been the Day of Silence. This is something that I have much approval for. No, I'm not gay or anything, but I do support their rights, and I actually have a few friends who are gay. So I thought it was a great idea that people should raise awareness for what gay people go through, it kind of reminds me of the bus protests that happened in the civil rights movement. I only wish I had heard of it before two o' clock this afternoon, so I could have joined in. Unfortunately, though, it seems that not all people think that.
So I was in my last class of the day when I found out what the whole silence thing was about, and when a nice girl in my class explained it to me, (via written note, of course) I was happy for everyone who did it. Then, of course, things got messy. So a person sitting behind her poked her, or something like that, and she said all of one word. When she did, a bunch of people immediately began laughing and making fun of her and the other participants. Now this annoys the hell out of me, so I was sure to (kindly, mind you) tell them that it wasn't very respectful of them, and that it really wasn't okay to mess with them. I mean, these people were determined to stick to their guns, and the other guys in my class all wanted to make them screw up just for the sake of doing so. It bothered me because they essentially wanted to gain pleasure by making other people upset. So I was sure to be polite in asking the guy not to keep at it, and he said "I'm not immature or anything. I'm just bored and have ADD. Haha!" So I still wasn't perturbed, because he wasn't arguing, or being mean or anything. I did say, though, "Well that's kind of the definition of immaturity."
Mind you, I know that isn't the actual definition of immaturity, but I said so because it was a perfectly good example of it. Of course, the person sitting behind me, who I hadn't been talking to, said in a rather rude tone: "Actually, that's about as far from the definition of immature as you can get." So I already knew this guy pretty well, and he's generally an asshole. The thing is, there's still hope for this particular asshole, so I argue with him a lot, hoping I might improve him as a person. He would make a very good non-asshole, if he put his mind to it. I think the reason he felt the need to say what he did was because yesterday, I kind of ground him to dust in an argument, and essentially proved that he's immature and that people don't like him because of it; and I think he was still angry about it. The thing that makes him so impossible to reason with is his ego. He seems to think that he can do no wrong, and always convinces himself, if no one else, that he's right... Or, in some cases, in the right. It reminds me of the quote: "The true hypocrite is the one that fails to see his own deception, the honest liar." Or something like that. This applies perfectly to the person I'm talking about, in that he seems to delude himself into thinking that he's just all that and a bag of vomit.
Anyway, this triggered a brief discussion about the terminology, in which I essentially proved that no one was wrong here. My point was that I was using the commonly understood meaning of immature, and not speaking literally. He, of course, refused to concede, and simply resorted to using points over and over, even after I defeated them. At this point, I should have stopped caring, because he wasn't following the rules of a proper debate. A warning to all of you: If you're arguing with someone who does things like reusing already-disproved points, or failing to use evidence and logic, then just stop. I recommend pointing it out to them, reminding them that in a proper debate they have to use things, and telling them that if they refuse, then you will assume that they are doing so because they can't defend their point in a fair discussion, and it will be reasonable to assume they are wrong.
Anyway, so back to the story, after I had pretty much made proven my point, and he had pretty much said the same thing over and over again, acting as if it was still a valid point, he started becoming an asshole. Well, mind you, he was being an asshole already, and I think that he realized it too. So upon realizing this, or maybe just that he was wrong, he said "Haha! I'm just saying this to mess with you! Look how angry you're getting!" I hadn't raised my voice or anything, and never did. I was annoyed, but not angry. But what bothers me is that he basically said "I'm only pretending to be an asshole, to have fun, but I'm really not, I'm just playing games." This bothers me because that statement is a lie, what really happened was that he realized he was being an asshole, and said that to cover it up. And about 90% of the time people say something similar to what he said, that's what they mean. So I pointed this out to him, and said that he was, in fact, an ass. He then went on a huge rant about how it was a cycle of assness, that made little sense, was not logical at all, and actually proved that he was an ass, if anyone paid enough attention to it.
At this point, half the room had gotten involved. We had a substitute teacher, so I there was nothing to stop us from arguing, or swearing, for that matter. Most people seemed to think that he was an ass, but some also thought that I was an ass, or at least, a smart ass. The thing is that he's more of the social whore, douchebag type, who hits on every girl he sees, never shuts up, and always has annoying things to say. I'm more of the awkward but well known, generally not taken seriously, loser type. It's annoying, though, because logically my argument won out. It just wasn't on a very fair battleground, though. Anyway, though, I just gave up talking to him, having realized that he wouldn't make a reasonably argument, similar to a toddler after having caffeine. (I know, I'm an older brother...)
Later, though, he did something I found particularly offensive, and that I just couldn't ignore. He started badgering the people who were being silent. Continually harassing them and talking down on them, arguing that their idea was stupid. I'm not going to argue whether being silent is or isn't a stupid way to get a point across. I'll just say that it doesn't really harm anyone, except the participants, and even that's rare; and that I think it's as good a way of bringing attention and awareness to an issue as any... Like I said earlier, the strikes on public transportation that MLK organized were similar to this, and they turned out to be a good idea. What the guy was saying, though, was that anything like this shouldn't interfere with life or anything, in any way. This is why, in addition to being an asshole, he's also an idiot. Intelligence wise, the guy's pretty smart, but as far as reasoning, maturity, and what you might call "wisdom" goes, he's a total retard. Because if you want to drive a point across about something you care about, you CAN'T do so while just staying out of people's way! You HAVE to interfere, you HAVE to stand out, you HAVE to do something that stands out about you, and that stands out to other people! You can't just passively support something if you want things to get done, you have to DO something, whether it's at school or work or in public or anything, you're going to have to do something differently. This idiot even said it would interfere with education. First off, it wouldn't interfere with ANYONE'S education but their own, and secondly, even the people who did it were probably only MINUTELY affected as far as their education goes.
So, to see him unjustly criticizing these people who didn't even speak to defend themselves, I had to jump in. We had quite a row, he and I. He said that he was in favor of gays, but not the method of protest. This is what really annoyed me. So he AGREED with these people, and yet he CRITICIZED them for doing something about their belief, which he supposedly has no contention with? I told him that if he really wanted to help gays, he would do better to rant on the people who AREN'T trying to show their support. By what logic does he figure that he would be most helpful by insulting the people who ARE trying to help the cause? And when they're doing something that isn't harmful or even remotely extreme, no less! My theory is that he just felt like being an ass. So again with the argument, again with him making bullshit points that weren't even valid, and again with him trying to pretend that he wasn't, at any point, being genuinely an ass.
What I love about the whole situation, though, is that while half of the onlookers seemed to think I was an idiot, the people who were silent, as well as a few other reasonable ones, were quite grateful that I stuck up for them. Their gratitude made the whole argument worth it, because even if half of my class hates me, and even if it's going to affect my social life forever, I know that the people who actually count, the people in the room who were both decent, and brave enough to stand up for what they believe today, took my side. And, even though overall the argument went awfully, I'll never forget the moment where the people who I was sticking up for wrote on a sheet of paper "No, you're an ass. Thanks Ellipsis." That moment: Priceless.
So to conclude this post, let me point out something to anyone who reads this. You may think that I was a fool for arguing with a fool, and that I should have just ignored him. Well I don't regret what I did. Sometimes silence is the better option, but that's not the theme of today. We can't always just sit down and let things happen. We can't always just let idiots be idiots. Even if I barely got anywhere. Even if I proved to no one that the idiot I was dealing with was wrong. Even if I'll take crap for doing what I did, I have no regrets. If I hadn't done what I did, here's what would have happened: People wouldn't have questioned what the idiot said. Being popular, people would just go along with what he said, unquestioningly. He, and maybe more people would have continued to insult and badger the silent people, and probably have made their lives suck significantly more. Finally, on principle, if I had kept my mouth shut, I would just be allowing for ignorance to run rampant, and for people to trod all over the ideas that I believe in. Whether entirely successful or not, I defended what I believe to be the truth, and what I believe to be right. If people don't do this enough, then the idiots of the world will just keep on multiplying, and wiping out good sense. So my point here is: Argue with fools! They say it brings you to their level, but it doesn't have to! If you know you're right, then prove it using your good sense and logic. Don't resort to their level of thinking, but rather prove that it is wrong! Smash it into the dirt, force them to defend their point with logic or not at all! Those of you who use the right method of proving things, you HAVE the advantage, so use it! It is a solid fact that there are certain rules to follow to properly prove something, and you can bring these up! Explain them to the idiots! They won't like them, they'll call you stupid, but keep trying. Keep your head together and stay patient, and you CAN prove that they are wrong, and you CAN bring sense to people, and stifle the ideas of the idiots! Good luck to all, and may we one day overcome human stupidity, even our own.
Sincerely,
The Ellipsis
