Comment by raganwald | Hacker News Reader

Comment by raganwald | Hacker News Reader

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I don’t think it’s a stretch to look at my comments here on HN and say that I’m cranky. Nevertheless, that doesn’t in any way add to a debate over my specific comment: Either I’m right or I’m wrong. If I’m wrong, say so and explain why. Saying (correctly) that I’m a cranky guy is still an Ad Hominem.

Summary: Ad Hominems can be factually correct yet they are still Ad Hominems and still the lowest form of disagreement.

And my point in this case isn’t that the entire argument was an Ad Hominem, but rather that it was a (possibly correct) Ad Hominem followed by a perfectly reasonable point. I stand by my assertion that the point is stronger on its own without the Ad Hominem.

Point taken, and lest I myself appear persnickety, I'll leave it at that.

And likewise, I will mention that while I’m quibbling about one little bit, I consider the rest of your comment worthy of an upvote.

Nevertheless, that doesn’t in any way add to a debate over my specific comment

This assumes that the OP's only goal was to debate. I opine that his secondary goal was to be a little cheeky and possibly evoke a chuckle, which was successfully achieved with me! You can interpret the "curmudgeon" comment as an ad hominem to the extent that his exclusive concern was the logical presentation of his argument, which I do not think is true for most cases in human discourse, on or off the internet.

I disagree. If someone responded face to face to a comment in a public debate by you by making a personal remark "wanting to be a little cheeky and evoke a chuckle", you would absolutely interpret it as being an attempt at ridiculing you and lowering the value of your opinion in the eyes of the audience, and you'd very likely be right. That is the essence of an ad hominem argument.

For what it's worth, I would (and have!) absolutely call someone out for being a curmudgeon face to face. I even called myself out on it the other day after trying to explain to a friend why I was turned off by Spotify.

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