RinkWorks: Stupid Emails: Yelling and Swearing

500. Yelling and Swearing

To:  <persuasive@rinkworks.com>
Subject:  yelling and swearing from How to be persuasive
Date:  Fri, 8 Jun 2007 23:56:02

I was highly offended when I read the sections "yelling" and "swearing" on
How to be Persuasive. These sections describe Canada as "lame", "stupid" and
"sucks like a vacuum". While I realize that the entire page is meant as a
joke and not serious, I would appreciate it if you remove or change this
insulting content. Intended humor is never funny when it comes by insulting
a group of people. In fact, those comments are nationalist, and would offend
many other Canadians. I realize that the ideas of yelling and swearing would
work well on a page entitled How to be Persuasive, I do not approve of the
way you are showing it. Please change it or remove it.

From:  The Rink <sam@rinkworks.com>
Subject:  Re: yelling and swearing from How to be persuasive
Date:  Sat, 9 Jun 2007 13:20:17

> Please change it or remove it.

Sorry, but no.  If you're offended by it, that's regrettable, but I think it's
because you're missing a key point of perspective.  You acknowledge it's a
joke and not serious, and you're right.  But there's more to it than that.

I'm NOT saying, "Canada sucks!  Just kidding!"  I'm portraying a *character*
who says, "Canada sucks!" in a negative light.  Surely you realize that every
single example argument in "How To Be Persuasive" is about illustrating a
debate technique to "prove" something that IS NOT TRUE?

My other examples include attempts to establish that the moon is made of
cheese, that clothing is immoral, that paper does not come from trees, and
that water is poisonous.  The ostensible purpose of the illustration is to show
how you can be persuasive with these kinds of arguments, but the reality is
that "How To Be Persuasive" illustrates the futility of trying to dress up a
completely STUPID, idiotic, and wrong argument in rhetoric.

So, hey.  My article implicitly equates the credence of "Canada sucks" with
"Water is poisonous."  If that isn't a staunch if subtle *defense* of Canada,
rather than an attack, I don't know what is.

I hope that this perspective puts you at ease about what I have written.
I mean that.  I don't want people to be offended by something like this.
That said, I also believe that people who are offended easily probably need
to be offended more.  Desensitize someone to taking offense at red herrings,
and eventually they'll get the perspective they need to key in on the things
that actually matter.  Distinguish between humor that insults and humor that
insults insults, and that's a step in the right direction.

Cheers.

-- Sam.

I love the offhanded remark at the end of his email where he concedes that yelling and swearing really ARE good debate tactics.