People never fail to amaze me: when they think they are anonymousthey will say the nastiest things to each other.  I have been reading a number of the commentson articles about evolution vs creationism and global warming.  Those opposed to the science presented havebecome like Rabid Dogs attacking the author of the article rather than thesubstance of the article.

In learned debate, the party resorting to an ad hominemattack is acknowledged to be boors who have no manners AND have lost thedebate. When you result to a personal attack on the author it is clear you havenothing further to contribute to the discourse.

So if you want to win friends and influence the debate,present well research facts and be polite even a middle school student knowsthat.

So Why do people resort to name calling? I don’t know, ifyou said those things to the dog next to you, you might get bitten. Dogs aresensitive to ad hominem attacks and we don’t get sarcasm.

It seems when you can be anonymous it brings out the worstin humans.  Those that write the nastiestthings are anonymous and have not registered on the site.  I wish these people would just grow up andrealize nobody is anonymous on the internet: Hank and others know who you areand where you live. 

As an example I did was on a site half way across the worldwhere someone emailed me that she was going to kill herself. The site was achat site where all were anonymous. It took less that ½ hour to get help to herdoor, she was in London on a London site and I was in Canada at the time.  So just because you think it is anonymous youcan be found and held accountable for what you say.

I am saddened that those trolls posting nasty comments thinkthat by personal attacks they will win an argument.  I can’t help thinking the trolls are mostly American.I am sitting in Guangzhou writing this. Over here we know we are not anonymouson the web. And, No, They don’t eat dogs over here anymore. Having a pet dog isa symbol of wealth; like having a Porsche only cheaper.

So let’s all try to be respectful when posting. Some of usare smarter than others but brains do not give you the right to be nasty. Scienceis about evidence and proof or disproof of theory. Wishing something to be sowill not make it so.  A Christian god didnot make the world in 6 days 6000 years ago. No matter how hard you wish andpray the facts will not change.