People are deliberately misinterpreting everything I say

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I've been active on many internet boards, mostly about politics and philosophy, for a very long time/many years.
Likewise, I have discussed politics in real life with people that I could see and hear.

My main impression of political and that of philosophical discussions, is that people tend to misinterpret my sayings
and my comments, in a complete and utter ugly way. They are doing this ON PURPOSE!

Why?

For example (and this is only an example, its not the point itself, please don't discuss this particular example, it is only an example*), on another discussion board a few days ago, I wrote something about people's lack of logical reasoning, showing the EXAMPLE* that the saying that many people have, that the full moon is causing their sleep deprivation, could have the explanation that it is simply because when our ancestors were tiny cells, they could better replicate or eat or do other stuff for survival, if they had the genes that allowed them to stay awake when it was full moon, because of the extra light during the night.
Thus it is not the full moon itself that causes sleep deprivation, rather it is our inner biological watch that is synchronized with the full moon.

And now you are going to understand why I put these marks (the *) in my example:

People on that other discussion board did exactly what I hate about other people: They take the example, and want to discuss that, rather than the _POINT_ of my thread.
For example, they wanted to discuss wether ALL sleep deprivation could be due to full moon, because some of them said that not every time they have sleep deprivation, it is full moon.
Well, they just proved me right, in my thread title I did state that people have irrational thinking. I never said that all sleep deprivation is caused by full moon or synchronization with it.
I never did.

My _POINT_ of my thread on the other discussion board was that people have irrational logical reasoning.

Furthermore, to make matters even worse, it seems like people don't actually read what I write. Or listen to what I say, judged by their very comments which is already addressed in my
Original Post.

This did not only happen on that other forum board. This happens here. It happens there. It happens everywhere I write something.

People DO NOT READ what I write. People DO NOT LISTEN to what I say!

Yet they comment on it!

Why do people comment on something they haved read or heard for themselves?

I was even told so, by someone else, who told me that I should NEVER expect people to read what I write, before they post a comment.

Well, a lot of the issues relating to the full moon are really mostly confirmation bias…for instance, how ER nurses report an increase in the number of crazies in the ER during the fool moon. Or how there's a greater number of weird stuff going on a particular day, we look outside, and say, "Oh, it's a full moon…THAT explains it." You don't notice stuff like that during, say, a new moon, regardless of the fact that the odds are not any different from one night or day to the next. Could be all the crazies come in during the new moon. But you have ONE crazy come in, then as you leave work or step outside for a smoke break or whatever, you notice the full moon, because it's hard to ignore, and you automatically think, "oh yeah, THAT'S it."

People have always blamed the full moon for things, but it's really just confirmation bias.

^^^ AngelRho, you are doing exactly what OP complains about. That people miss the point of a thread and start going off-topic by talking about an example (in this case, the stuff about the moon).
To OP: I don't think people do this on purpose, it is just very common for threads to go off-topic. Perhaps people found the examples more interesting than the topic of the thread itself. An example is often more tangible than the topic of a thread, which in this case is more abstract than the moon.

Misunderstanding or misinterpreting what people say occurs often on these boards; it seems in part due to poorly expressed comments or people not being bothered to fully read what is written or to go off at a tangent with an ancillary comment made during someone's post. These problems seem to happen more frequently than once every blue moon.

I think it's best to leave short comments on the internet. With short comments there is less room for tangents or typing for its own sake. There is enough to read already. If you want to focus the discussion further then make another post and say that.

I see what you're saying.

We all get missunderstood-both in real life- and online in ways similar to that.

But it doesnt happen to me constantly.

When it DOES happen it can rankle for a long time though!

It maybe that your posts are too long, or too pedantic, or whatever, and people do indeed - stop reading them part way in- before they sound off. But they WILL read the next poster's briefer comments before sounding off on that persons comments.

If it seems to happen to you more than to the next person then part of the problem is likely you (and not just everyone else). you're doing something wrong in your communication style.

Maybe be briefer. And if they dont get it-just tell them so. Say "I never said ALL insomnia was caused by a full moon".

The actual point of the thread is a generalization which can't really be debated because sometimes it's true and sometimes it's not.

It's called Rhetoric.

People are always trying to get an edge in everything (including philosophical discussions) and will use all their means at their disposal. This has been happening since the Dawn of Man.

That's why (amongst many other reasons) one should take politicians with a grain of salt. I vote for whoever will improve my lot in life, without being amoral/immoral in the process.