One of the interesting consequences of wading through the world of blogging is that you invariably find yourself accosted at some point. As you begin to navigate through blogs of interest, you find many an interesting (and mostly educated) commentary on everything from religion to parenting to politics. And, just as invariably, you may find yourself inspired enough to leave a comment. Or fifty.
And people might just leave you comments, as well. Either on your blog, or in your inbox, or on the same blog where you commented. And, invariably, their attacks are ad hominem. Or, in my case, more like ad feminam.
An ad hominem attack is one which, instead of addressing the issue, either appeals to your prejudices and emotions, OR, as is more common, attacks the person rather than the logic of the argument. Having recently been the target of such attacks (albeit in to a miniscule degree, let’s be honest-it’s not like my readership is global or anything), I wonder that people find that these attacks are effective. And, at the same time, I wonder why we are so affected by them.
We like to say that the comments of others don’t hurt, or that we “don’t care what people think”, and yet this medium of blogging is such a judgement-bound one. We do want to know what others think. Why do we blog in the first place? We want to know that our choices are good, that our writing is inpiring, that the things that impact us also are impactful to others. We want to connect. So we do, to some extent, invite these attacks.
That doesn’t make the rhetoric any more valid.
So here’s my thought- how about we start using our brains and logic to respond to people, rather than emotional knee-jerk reactions which make us feel better for a few minutes, but create an environment of hurt rather than thoughtful discourse?
My rant for the day. Inspired? (Insert ad hominem here).
Evenshine 