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> Without anonymity, it can be very difficult to conduct useful intellectual discourse, especially if you aren't strong-willed enough to deal with trolls and je
by lutusp 13y ago
> Without anonymity, it can be very difficult to conduct useful intellectual discourse, especially if you aren't strong-willed enough to deal with trolls and jerks who say "But aha! Yesterday you claimed A, but today B; which is it?".
I believe being held to account for one's past actions and present views is called "personal responsibility", and yes, that has certainly fallen out of fashion. If you think being forced to be consistent from moment to moment and day to day hinders useful intellectual discourse, maybe we're using different definitions of "useful".
- Dylan16807 13y agoBeing responsible has nothing to do with not changing your mind. What in the world are you talking about?
- lutusp 13y ago> Being responsible has nothing to do with not changing your mind. Being responsible has everything to do with changing or not changing your mind. An anonymous troll can lie and say, "I never said that." A named person cannot -- he has to accept personal responsibility for his past statements and actions.
- Dylan16807 13y agoI think you're confusing different scenarios. Nobody was talking about lying. A responsible person will respond "I said that, but I changed my mind because X", and everyone should be happy. But in the problem angersock mentions, people complain, accusing hypocrisy as if everything you have ever said in your life was uttered mere moments ago.