Rational Online Debate – cnbloggercon 2008

Idealism, debate and blogging

Speaker: Ping Ke (平客, aka. buchimifan)

Has anybody used anonymous names to make posts that support yourself? I think many people have.

I have had many big arguments with people online. One case was about the Olympics. I didn’t like the opening ceremony. Of course, the show was great, but it was such a waste of money (applause from the audience).

Dongdongqiang, a blogger, wrote about the opening ceremony, praising it. I commented on his post. I said that of course you enjoyed watching the ceremony in your air conditioned room. I’m glad for you. But think about the poor coal miners down in the mines who can’t watch it.
He replied to me the next day. He said: I didn’t invite you, how come you are on my blog and commenting? Well, I thought: blogs are an open space for people to have conversations, aren’t they? Dongdongqiang said many bad things about me, he used profanity, he called me shabi (“fucking idiot” or “stupid cunt”), shit for brains, and other things.

I think I replied in quite a calm way, saying that we’re all pretty much on the same intelligence level, that I’m not anymore of an idiot than he is, or that anyone else is.

In retrospect, it was a waste of time. Most arguments on the web are meaningless, waste of time.

How many people write blogs? How do bloggers feel about comments? How do you feel when you see a comment from someone who disagrees with you?

I have friend who can’t stand radical comments. I also have friends who don’t give a damn what kind of crazy comments you leave on their blog.

I think when you first start to write blog, you feel that you hold truth in your hands, that you know best. But how can you be so sure?

We need rational debates, whether in person or online.
On the day US election results came out, I happened to be sitting with a couple of Americans. They were discussing who they support. One said he supports Obama, but the other supports McCain. They started to debate who would be a better president … it was calm and rational debate.

In china we can’t even vote, just discussing whether we should vote can get people riled up.

In Taiwan, politics can split up a family. Husbands and wives who disagree politically can argue until they divorce – is it really worth it?

Example of rational debaters online:
Hanhan. Go read his blog, he has high quality writing, and can criticize people without resorting to profanity.

Wangshuo. He always gets nasty comments from young people about how he is a has-been, that guys like him from the 60s have no place on the web. I remember his classic reply was: we were all young once, but have you been old before?

We should talk more with good debaters, we can learn a lot from them.

Many people like to tag me as a liberal. I don’t care, time is so precious, especially for us middle aged, I’m about 40 years old. I’m not going to argue with you, unless you give me a visa to the US.

One question from the audience: Why are you called buchimifan (meaning “I don’t eat rice”)? Because I really don’t eat rice, my stomach can’t digest it. I only eat congee.