Originally Posted by Skallewag
Originally Posted by Apocynum
Your use of phrases like “just trolling” and “just trying to rile someone up,” as well as saying that trolling is “not nice” imply that you view it as a relatively minor problem, and that the only solution you propose being “a team of nannys to guard everyones feelings” would further suggest that you view it as an acceptable problem—or at least, that you see the cure as worse than the disease.

Is this inaccurate?


Yes I do think hating and mistreating people for their skincolor is a worse problem than trolling.
But even if both of them are hust as bad it doesnt change my argument. Trolling and racism are caused by different motivations, if you want to fight either of them efficently you need to differentiate them.

Think of it in medical terms. There are bacteria and viruses that can have the same really bad symtome. If you want to be able to treat the bad symtome you need to know the underlying cause. Will antibiotics work or will they do nothing?


That is a pretty dubious analogy. Viruses and bacteria are different organisms with different physical properties. Intentions have no physical properties, and are only relevant insofar as how they manifest in actions. In a court of law intentions matter, but we are talking about interactions with generally much lower stakes. So, to use the prevailing hypothetical, if somebody is using offensive language with the intent to discriminate against somebody then they should be rebuked by being ejected from the match and have a proportionate suspension placed on their account, right? Wouldn’t we do the same thing if yes person was “just trolling?” How would you tell the difference?