The Best Reasons Why You Shouldn't Argue With An Idiot
Reddit user Blaztwin asked: 'Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." What's your best real life example of this?'
We've all found ourselves in a position where we simply couldn't contain ourselves and found ourselves putting someone in their place owing to something they said which was either wrong or just plain stupid.
When it comes to the latter category, though, it's often worth taking a minute to wonder if fighting that particular battle is even worth it.
As many people who are about to shoot down their current conversation partner might take a minute and really examine the person they're talking with before remembering the old saying: "Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience."
Sadly, some people remember this conversation too late, and find themselves falling down a conversational rabbit hole from which they may never escape.
“'Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience'.” What's your best real life example of this?"
They Literally Won't be "Shut Down"
"When I tell people to just reboot your computer and it will fix all their problems and yet they won't because they said if you wait long enough it will shut down, when in reality it only goes to sleep."
"Then when I tell them they have to completely shut it down they look at me like I'm an idiot and say they did."
"I tell them it seems like it but it only went to sleep."
"They argue back."- niallaa
Some People Just Don't Get It...
"I used to argue a lot with my sister when we were kids."
"She would do this thing where she would say something, and then I would reference back to it literally a minute or two later to prove a point and she would say 'I never said that' or 'that’s not what I said'."
"Absolutely impossible to argue with someone who will just deny having said things that could hurt their argument."
"Also, trying to change the course of an argument if they feel like they are 'losing'."
"A coworker once called me an idiot for doing something 'incorrectly' when I was actually doing it the right way."
"When I politely explained to them that the way they suggested doing the task didn’t actually work, they started asking 'why are you getting so angry?? I was just trying to help' etc."
"So now we’re arguing about whether I’m angry or not instead of the right way to complete the task."- themightypianocat
Facts Are Facts...
"Arguing is pointless if you do not agree on a set of facts."- niallaa
Facts GIF by Judge JerryGiphyYou Can't Have It Both Ways...
"For a short while, I worked as a line cook at a Cracker Barrel, and there was a little saloon style door that led to the staff section (kitchen, bathroom, etc)."
"There was a staff only sign on the door, above the doors, and on the wall behind the doors at eye level."
"Usually if someone from the customer side comes in, they said, 'Coming in' before opening the door, so they didn't hit anyone, but of course customers didn't know that."
"So when this dude opened the door and hit a waitress carrying a ton of drinks, we were reasonably upset with him."
"He said, ;You should really put a sign up'."
"We showed him all the signs, and he goes, 'That seems a bit excessive'."- GreyFoxHound1
So Wrong.
"Had an employee sign an NDA about an upcoming art installation that had investors."
"He told everyone."
"He argued with me the NDA only meant he couldn’t disclose anything with the people in the company."- BosskHogg
He Knew What He Was Talking About
This was best said:
“'Never wrestle with pigs'."
"'You both get dirty and the pig likes it'.― George Bernard Shaw"- Zerowantuthri·
pigs GIFGiphySome Outdated Inventions Are Definitely Not Missed...
"I’m showing my age here but I used to work for an estate agency, and we had sales offices set up at the site of large new housing developments."
"Our primary method of communication was fax."
"One of the sales associates telephoned our office to say that the fax machine had run out of paper."
"No problem, I said, one of the guys is coming your way later for a house tour, I’ll give him a box of paper to give to you."
"We then had an almost 20 minute long argument when they kept insisting 'NO, YOU JUST SEND ME A BLANK FAX BECAUSE I NEED THE PAPER, IT WILL JUST COME OUT OF MY FAX MACHINE'.”
"It was like trying to nail jelly to a tree."
"Difficult, irritating, and it achieved nothing."- BettieKat
Very Few Hills Are Worth Dying On...
"I had a friend in university who was a world-class high school debater."
"Over meals, she liked to pick a ridiculous proposition and then talk circles around people until they had to concede to her point, no matter how absurd."
"When she tried it with me, I just stonewalled her."
"Met every point with a solid 'I don't think that's true'." or 'That doesn't make sense'."
"Eventually she gave up and never tried it with me again."
"It was the only time I've ever used the tactics of the stupid to win an argument."
"But, to be fair, if you're not arguing with me in good faith, I feel no obligation to respond in good faith."- kitskill
IS The Customer Always Right?...
"Working retail."
"Especially when I worked in the tech shop or a computer store."
" Trying to convince someone their $500 laptop is never going to be a gaming system no matter how many of the very few replaceable parts we throw at it can be exhausting."- MOS95B
happy episode 7 GIFGiphyEducation Only Matters If You Learned Something....
"Was arguing with this dude about something math-related."
"He didn’t know how to read a study that involved statistics. claimed he was in multiple AP math classes."
"Tried saying that I 'probably don’t even know basic integration'."
"Gave me a common integration problem."
"He wrote it but forgot the minus sign, making it unsolvable."
"I pointed it out and he edited the comment to make it correct."
"Told him that some people can see when you edit comments."
"He claimed that he just capitalized a letter. on and on and on."- SaturdayNightCity
Good Legal Counsel Might Be Worth The Splurge...
"I asked a representative from the Friend of the Court to explain something she said and she told me that I understood what she was saying."
"I replied that I wouldn't have asked her to explain if I had understood."
"She said if I was going to be difficult, she would hold me in contempt."
"My X chimed in that she didn't quite understand what she had said and was greeted with a smile and an explanation."
"From that point on I always disagreed with the Friend of the Court on EVERYTHING, so that I could be seen by the 'Actual Court' and a Judge."- PURPLEPEE
Season 4 Episode 21 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphySore Winners Are No More Attractive Than Sore Losers...
"Once worked with a guy who, by his own admission, got his rocks off by picking fights."
"He'd start an argument over the smallest thing."
"If you said it was white, he'd say it was black, just to try to start something."
"The one that always stood out for me was the weather app competition."
"One day he asked me what temperature it was, so I read it off my weather app."
"He got all offended, because his weather app said it was a couple degrees warmer."
"So he decides we're going to have a weather app competition."
"He was going to chart what our apps said the temperature was, and at the end of the week, whichever one was closest to that day's high would be the winner."
"And the loser would have to start using the winner's app."
"To which I said, "What is your f*cking problem?'"
"So, yeah."
"For the first few days, he'd make a big performance about marching into my office, recording the temperature off my app, jotting down some notes, and walking off."
"This started on a Monday."
"He gave up after Wednesday."
"Either because I was winning, or he was disappointed because, despite his best efforts, I just did not give a f*ck about weather apps."
"Or maybe the boss told him to stop because I filed a complaint that this was bordering on harassment."- originalchaosinabox
Im Always Right GIF by ZionGiphyIt should perhaps be said calling someone an idiot, or even thinking it, is not a particularly nice thing to do.
Even so, if you're tempted to do so when you're in the presence of a particular individual, probably best not to provoke them.
After all, if you're so determined to "win," does it really make you any better than them?
People have long engaged in passionate debates about their firm beliefs on any particular subject, the popular ones being religion and politics.
Those arguing on both sides of religious or political debates seldom see eye-to-eye with their opponents and are unable to find common ground.
But there are other arguments that are equally as passionate which people are not willing to negotiate, or at the very least, have some wiggle room for compromise.
Curious to hear some examples, Redditor lllSnowmanlll asked:
"What's your strongest opinion that's not political religious or moral?"
We are constantly inundated with marketing ads sneaking their way into our daily interactions on social media.
Enough is enough.
Audio Assualt In Ads
"Radio ads that have honking horns or sirens should be illegal. As should billboards."
– Mojo884ever
Focus On The Product, Please
"If I buy a car, I want to own it without paying a subscription to use the radio or heated steering wheel."
– topendminer
Effective Strategy
"Ads with the skip button are more effective than ones without."
"If an ad has a skip button you can choose whenever you’re interested in said product or not. This provides more clear info to advertisers too."
"An unskippable ad makes a person associate the company with a negative experience, therefore downgrading the company."
– PyroWasUsed
When it comes to our well-being, these Redditors believe the following are of utmost importance.
Ready For The Weekend
"Weekends are sacred and you can pry my free saturday out of my cold dead hands. And even then good luck because i will have hot-glued it to my hands."
"Jokes aside, self care and de-stressing are important. Take care of yourself people!"
"Edit: for everyone saying this comment is indeed political/religious: i'm just saying that having some time off to recharge or take care of personal stuff is important. It does not matter when or how that time off is, as long as you have some. I just want people to be healthy."
– Doctor-lasanga
It's Time To Let Go
"My boss asked me to come in on Saturday next month. Every Saturday. All month."
"In response, I took off all the Fridays. Due to corporate policy, he can’t deny it. At the end of the month, I’ll be quitting. This is the fifth time in less than a year he’s tried to get me to do regular overtime, and I’ve had enough. If he wants someone working on Saturday, he can do it himself."
"EDIT: I’m getting tired of all the people saying I should have 'just said no,' so let me explain why I didn’t."
"I’ve been at this company two years, and I’ve been 'just saying no' since day one. I was literally asked to stay late on my first day. For a while I did it because COVID had just started and I didn’t want to lose my job. I was very lucky to have a job at all and I knew it."
"But the demands for more overtime, more work, more responsibilities, it all kept growing. Soon, I was working 10 or 11 hours a day Mon-Sat and another 3 or 4 hours most Sundays. I was doing the work of three people and barely making enough money to live. Keep in mind I didn’t get paid for most of this overtime, maybe half of it. No OT bonus to speak of."
"Finally, after eight months of this, I put my foot down. I went back to 40 hour weeks, no overtime unless it’s payed and I choose to do it. My superiors weren’t happy, but replacing me wasn’t easy and they knew it, so they had to deal with it."
"Lately they’ve started pushing me to do more overtime again, but they still refuse to pay me for it. So, I’m done. I’m already planning on moving, but my plans to transfer to a different location are now out the window. I’m way past my limit with this company, they’re lucky I’m still here at all. So no, I won’t 'just say no.' I’ve been saying it for months and they don’t listen.
– DJDarwin93
Staying Afloat
"Swimming should be taught to every child."
– TheFrontierzman
The following opinions are about our interactions with the public.
Courtesy Flush
"If you take a sh*t at public toilets, FLUSH!!!"
– Edmundwhk
The Stigma Of Naiveté
"People should learn that saying 'I don't know' is a perfectly acceptable thing to say, and very often the most accurate."
– realistic_bastard
Gym Etiquette
"Rerack your weights, you meaningless excuse for intelligent life!"
– EndlessExploration
Road Communication
"Drivers who don't indicate when turning are selfish scum."
– Big_Undies
When using the elevator or public transportation, please let the passengers off before batter-ramming your way in, please.
The doors will eventually shut automatically but will not crush you if are entering the departed cabin at the last minute.
There's no rush.
That's the thing with people. Everyone's in a hurry to get from point A to B but cutting people off on the freeway or jamming your way into an emptying elevator will not get you places any faster.
Not only is it annoying, it's also dangerous.
And I'm done with my PSA. Thank you, kindly.
People Who Have Been In Relationships For Over A Decade Share Their Secret To Longevity
Relationships are hard, and maintaining one long-term can be even harder. The vibe will change over time and if you and your partner(s) aren't still putting in the work to maintain good communication and fostering the relationship, it can crumble.
Redditor pobodysnerfect563 asked the folks at. AskReddit for some advice:
"Redditors in 10+ year relationships, what's your secret?"
Be Friends
It’s no secret. Be friends as well as lovers. And be committed to the relationship itself. You both invest in the relationship then you’re good.
Don’t worry if you fight some in early relationship. You’re finding out about each other then. Just make up and move forward. Before you know it many years will have passed and you’re a solid couple.
Grow Together
We try to grow together. I don’t mean that we have all the same hobbies, interests, or friends, but we invite each other into the things we care about and the plans that are preoccupying us at the moment. Couples that don’t talk to each other don’t stay together, and couples that only talk about day-to-day logistics and what Brian did at work can struggle too. You have to think your partner is interesting — not every second of every day, but they should be someone whose opinion you actively want to hear on most occasions.
Taking weekly date night seriously helps too — put on some nice clothes and plan something intellectually stimulating, really pleasurable, or novel.
My wife is really into British Crime shows and now I am too. We often watch one of the million episodes of Midsomer Murders once a week. As for date night we decided to do this....right when the pandemic started lol. Anyway, you're spot on about growing together. Finding common interest and trying to enjoy something your partner enjoys will always keep things fresh as you now have one more thing to talk about. My wife is finally getting interested in (American) football and since she knows pretty much nothing about the game and is from a different country her commentary and thoughts on the game and the culture around it is actually really interesting.
If It's Hers, It's Hers
20yrs and counting. Don't eat her restaurant food leftovers.
I ate the last rice cake in the package once in 2006 and she still brings it up occasionally.
Be Your Own Person
The person you're with is not responsible for entertaining you or making/keeping you happy. You are also not responsible for doing this for them.
Have your own friends and your own hobbies and get your fulfillment from your own decisions. Enjoy the time and energy that your partner is willing to give, and don't badger them to give you more than they want to. Nor should you let them badger you into giving more.
Otherwise, you'll exhaust each other emotionally and you'll fight constantly about how the other is not doing enough for you. If you aren't happy, take responsibility and make yourself happy.
Edit: bonus tips—learn how to cook their favorite foods, don't require apologies, if there's a problem discuss it, if the problem isn't cheating/abuse/murder then you shouldn't let yourself get too angry about it—always ask yourself if you'll even remember the issue/incident in a year, go on adventures together
The person you're with is not responsible for entertaining you or making/keeping you happy. You are also not responsible for doing this for them.
Will be married for 16 years next week - the above is KEY. You need to be happy/comfortable with yourself before you can be happy/comfortable with someone else. I've seen too many people in love with love or looking for someone to "complete" them. That's not how it works. Successful relationships are partnerships.
You Don't Always Have To Fix It
Listen to each other, don’t always try to “fix” the problem.
Practice forgiveness, for yourself and your partner.
Try new things and fun things together.
Don’t drag family / friends into your relationship issues.
Redditors Recount The Wedding Objections They Witnessed | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Weddings are supposed to be all about love and celebration, right? But let's be honest, weddings are stressful. According to a recent Zola survey of 500 enga...Enjoy Your Time Together
Twelve years next month. Lived together for eight, married a year this Sunday.
People want to make it complicated, but it isn’t. Communicate everything, all the time. Enjoy your time together, enjoy your time apart.
Show them things you care about. Indulge their love language. Care about their physical, emotional, and sexual well being. All of this goes both ways of course.
And most importantly, whoop their a** at Super Smash Bros on a regular basis.
Enjoy Your Time Apart
Enjoy your time apart. SOOO underrated. I looooooooooove my wife. but I don't need my wife. I'm a whole human without her and so is she. We're together because we complement each other not complete each other.
I hate the romantic notion of completing each other. I feel like if you're looking for someone to complete you, maybe you should complete yourself first.
Resentment Is Poison
15 years now.
Resentment is poison, talk through issues and be unwilling to allow them to fester.
Treat each other like they’re more important than yourselves (only works if it goes both ways).
Remember that shared interests are far less important than shared values.
A Sense Of Humor Is Priceless
Have a sense of humour, and separate friends and hobbies.
Counseling Isn't a only For Problems
Couples counseling. We have a really great relationship, but we still go to counseling on a weekly basis to keep it great. You wouldn’t wait until your car engine was on fire to take it to a mechanic. You get regular maintenance on your car so that it continues to run smoothly. Treat your relationship the same way.
Relationships take work, from everyone involved. There's no magic secret to a great relationship, but hopefully some of these tips will put you on the right path.
Occasionally, we find ourselves in an argument with someone who is just stubborn enough to turn the tables.
At the outset, we are certain, beyond a shadow of doubt, that what they're trying to claim is ludicrous. It's plain untrue.
And yet, some people grind away persistently for long enough that we begin to doubt. At the very least, we find ourselves arguing, several minutes later, about something that once seemed so obvious it didn't even require a second thought.
Alas, some people just can't let go of their misconceptions.
A recent thread on Reddit asked people to share the finest examples of insane claims they've heard.
liveyourbestlife83 asked, "What's the dumbest thing someone has ever tried to convince you was the truth?"
Plenty of people have been told insane lies about science and the natural world. Animals and earthly dynamics provide the subject for these absurdities.
Anti-Slurp
"That chickens don't drink water" -- Thomas56544
"They drink beer." -- StupidFckNextDoor
"They don't if you put the food in front of them first because they're gluttonous little brats. Give them water first and they'll drink, then give them food" -- MatureTeen14
Philosophical Arguments
"You hear the sound of thunder before you see the lightning. They were convinced this was true... I told them to google it!" -- froatfish
"Isn't thunder the sound of lightning?" -- King_Kingly
"Well Einstein. Then why do I hear my farts before I smell them?" -- Joshi3003
Taxonomy
"Jellyfish are not alive, they are a mineral." -- Zbignich
"Have you ever seen a jellyfish? No. Thats because they're too busy being minerals" -- Darth_Gonk
Curb Poo
"That the dust on the side of roads after winters is mostly dog poo. I was just speechlessly thinking about the huge army of stray dogs invading all the streets and roads every winter night to poo and disappearing to the woods at summer..."
Others recalled times that they heard bizarre lies about medical knowledge and the human body. Some were so brazen that, in hindsight, it's become comical.
Paternal Gaslighting
"My father trying to console me on the way to the hospital saying it's just a sprain when I was staring at my bone." -- ConfusedFanGirl0502
"Tis just a flesh wound" -- TheStavis
"As a new dad...I get it."
"Sometimes you tell kids everything's going to be okay...even when it's not." -- default52
Airless
"In middle school the smart kid in class, the kind to show it off, told me if I held my breath while running the mile I could run as fast and far as I wanted because 'it uses no oxygen.' "
"I said 'no way' because that made no sense and asked him to show me. He was reluctant then basically ran like 100ft then basically passes out lmao."
Both False, Thank Goodness
"A fully grown adult tried to convince me that women get pregnant by swallowing semen because it has to get in their stomach to grow a baby." -- BogieTime69
"That periods were unnatural and are caused by having a non-vegan diet." -- SnooSprouts3480
And others remembered times when the most basic seeming facts and information had somehow eluded the people around them.
These moments left them wondering how they got so far into life not realizing the truth.
"Says So Right There"
"My parents used to think keyboards were invented by a guy named Qwerty. When I was a kid I believed it too until I said 'wait, that's a really weird name' and decided to google it" -- soviet_uwunion
"What a power move that would be. Forcing millions of keyboards to spell out your name." -- NotAnOctopys
"Wait, they weren't? That's literally what my 6th grade computers teacher told us in class and I've just been going around believing it for 15 years. I feel like my life is a lie now." -- FalconOtherwise
A Teaching Moment
"That unicorns were not only real, but that they lived in northern Europe. This 20-year old girl had a full-on argument in the middle of a part about this."
"The look of sadness on her face as she slowly realized that they weren't real was just...so beautiful lol"
Violent Transfer of Power
"That John Wilkes Booth became President after shooting Lincoln. Im pretty sure they actually thought this was true though, since they were in third grade and never really studied how democracy works." -- NeonMoth229
"You keep what you kill." -- TheStavis
So, as you've heard so many times before, do not believe everything you hear. Even when the person is blue in the face and repeating the same lie over and over for minutes on end despite anything you say.
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Sometimes it's the little things that light the biggest fire in us.
Forget healthcare, economic policy or foreign affairs. What about the minute annoyances of speech? What about the proper way to eat cereal?
We find ourselves in a chaotic historical moment. The pandemic continues to rage and the peaceful transfer of power in the United States has never felt so threatened.
Perhaps a little exhausted by those macro-level, swirling debates, some Redditors took a moment to name the tiny minutiae that always grinds their gears.
wetspider asked, "What's the most meaningless hill you'll die on?"
Mind Your O's
"People saying 'loose' when they mean 'lose' upset me so deeply. I don't correct people, but it hurts my head."
"Wanna loose weight? I'm afraid I'll loose her and I love her so much. Sometimes I think I'm just a looser."
Writing Off Whole Swaths of the Population
"Oxford comma is best comma."
"Anyone who says otherwise is categorically wrong, and I respect them less as a person."
Know Your Negatives
It's 'I couldn't care less,' not 'I could care less."' -- homevp
"That one did piss me off.
"If you couldn't care less, then you could not care less, dipsh**. - Sounds like you don't give a F about it. Cuz you couldn't care less."
"If you could care less, then, it sounds like you care more about it than the saying is meant to intend." -- Etil9
It's Fun, But WRONG
"Reese's rhymes with pieces, not feces. It's f***ing obvious." -- sjmp75020
"I ate too many Reese's pieces and it gave me explosive Reese's feces." -- jerrythecactus
"100% agree. Didn't even though this was a thing until I was an adult. Not sure where such appalling pronunciation came from." -- Elation18
Mismatched Priorities
"Drinking age smoking age etc should be 18 not 21" -- threadgrinder
"If you are old enough to join the army you should be old enough to have a beer." -- Mandelbrotpizza
"I don't care what arbitrary number is chosen so long as it's consistent. If you're old enough to vote or join the military then you're old enough to decide what to do with your own body." -- FeatherShard
A Short, Sweet Denunciation
"It's 'by accident' and not 'on accident.'"
"Yes, language is living, but 'on accident' lives in the mouths of the irredeemable. Thank you for attending this talk."
Let's Be Civil
"Barbeques lit with commercial firelighters and cheap charcoal will make all food taste like commercial firelighters and cheap charcoal"
"Use good quality charcoal and use home made firelighters (twisted kitchen-roll soaked in veg oil)"
-- Hugh_Jampton
Entertainment
"Enjoying professional wrestling is no different to enjoying a TV show like game of thrones."
"Tell people you like wrestling and you get the 'you know it's fake, right?' And then go on to rave about whatever tv show they are enjoying."
"It's the same damn thing!"
Digging Craters With Each Pour
"Cereal before milk" -- i_need_allthehelp
"Never even considered it could be done any other way,people are monsters." -- Mandelbrotpizza
Hot Take on the Tots
"Tater tots are the superior fried potato." -- NotHisRealName
"This comment really hashed my browns." -- StalinsPerfectHair
"My man, this is the winner right here." -- xDecenderx
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