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A recent translation of Aristotle's classic "On trolling" (it is CC,
so you can read the whole thing):<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=10293503&fileId=S2053447716000099">http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=10293503&fileId=S2053447716000099</a><br>
Many good points, and just two pages.<br>
<br>
An excerpt:<br>
<blockquote type="cite">One might wonder whether there is an art of
trolling and an excellence; and indeed some say that Socrates was
a troll, and so that the good man also trolls. And this is in fact
what the troll claims: that he is a gadfly and beneficial, and
without him to ‘stir up’ the thread it would become dull and
unintelligent. But this is incorrect. For Socrates was speaking
frankly when he told the Athenians to care for their souls, rather
than money and honors, and showed that they lacked knowledge. And
this is not trolling but the contrary, exhortation and
truth-telling—even if the citizens get very annoyed. For annoyance
results from many kinds of speech; and the peculiarity [<em>idion</em>]
of the troll is not annoyance or controversy in general, but
confusion and strife among a community who really agree. And since
the one who does this on every occasion must act with knowledge,
and on the basis of practice and care, he has a kind of art—just
as one might speak of the art of the hack or of the grifter. But
it is not really an art, being without any function; and it
belongs not to the serious person to be a troll but to the one who
lacks education.</blockquote>
<br>
I am reminded of Frankfurt's classic "On bullshit":<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.stoa.org.uk/topics/bullshit/pdf/on-bullshit.pdf">http://www.stoa.org.uk/topics/bullshit/pdf/on-bullshit.pdf</a><br>
<br>
Which is doubly relevant today given Trump's candidacy and the
epistemic approach of Putin's Russia. Know your epistemic defenses
and virtues. <br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Anders Sandberg
Future of Humanity Institute
Oxford Martin School
Oxford University</pre>
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