HOW DO YOU ARGUE WITH THE IGNORANT??????????

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Exactemundo.

Wow! I never knew I could encourage such lively debate. I love listening (or should I say reading) your guys views.

Yes. I.e., our inability to understand is tagged as being a problem because we can't relate to a 'normal' viewpoint that we 'should' be able to, but an NT's inability to relate is of no importance; the attitude is one of feeling no obligation to even attempt to understand because our viewpoint is the 'weird/wrong' one.

I'm perhaps bitter on these kinds of topics due to years of being told by my own family that, in a nutshell, everyone else can do exactly as they please and I should just keep quiet and try to fit in with what they want each time, because their way of life is normal and mine is abnormal.

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Last edited by Katze on 22 Jan 2009, 6:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

Or ignorant arguing?

You can't convince an ignorant person if he doesn't want to be convinced. That's one of the key things to keep in mind when it comes to approaching an argument.

Yes, but can ignorance be defined as rigidity of thought?

And ignorance =/= stupidity

I never said ignorance=stupid, and I never said ignorance is the same as having fixed views.

It was ironic, because right after I posted my last post I checked my facebook and one of my ultra-conservative friends had written on my wall stating that Obama's first day in office was a failure because he didn't accomplish anything. He backed up his statement by citing that Ronald Reagen freed all of the American hostages being held in Iran on his first day in office.

Talk about ignorant.

(for those who don't know, the hostages were released on the first day of Reagen's presidency because the Iranians wanted to stick it to Reagen's predecessor, Jimmy Carter, and had nothing to do with the actions of Reagen)

Thank you for your posts. I don't know if you'll come back and read this or not, but your post on the subject is exactly what many of us, especially myself, need to hear. I often peg people stupid, not because they don't agree with me as much as they refuse to listen to me. In my life, I repeat probably 95% of the things I say at least twice, and probably 50% at least three times or more. From, did you change that diaper? to my monologue about my near death incident, people have just learned to tune me out. As if Aspergers in communicative settings isn't frustrating enough.

I will say that I often deem people stupid before I give them a real chance, and it's not really fair to them or myself. Plus, I've been noticing that it might be an NT thing to not reveal your true self early on, so their FIRST arguments in a debate tend to be simple and stupid sounding. Like Aspies want to play all their best cards first, but NT's get rid of all the bad cards before revealing that ace they got. I think it's a survival tactic as well as an etiquette on the NT part. Plus, I think Aspies take character bashing more personally than NT's, so when an NT threatens our intentions, our intelligence, or anything of that nature, we get on the defensive side.

A tip though, many times us Aspies come across like we aren't listening when we are, and better than anyone else would. I know I'm a much better listener when I am trying not to listen than many NTs are (as I've already said I seem to repeat myself a lot...and people wonder why I have a habit of saying the same thing over and over again in different ways...that's why..my family trained me to do that). Aspies are more apt to not listen to you when we are involved in our interest than in a debate. I prioritize what I listen to a lot, and if I don't place it as a priority, then I toss it aside in my mind for later. Sometimes, I don't respond to good points when I'm not ready to cave. I will ignore any attempt to changing the subject when I'm heated on the subject. I don't know if this is Aspie or me, but I have to have closure. I can't function without it, so when I'm debating or arguing with a loved one, I have to see it through or I go crazy.

I do think it's therapeutic to go on an NT witchfest (trying to avoid real cuss words, sorry) once in a while. Kinda like how girls frustrated with dating will often get together and man bash. This forum is a great instrument for it. I'm sure many people are like me and can take a good look around, and the only other Aspie around them is in the next generation in their family, if they are even that lucky. So this is a place where you can talk with other Aspies who know where you are coming from.

I complain about my husband all the time. I still love him and want to be married to him, so obviously I don't really mean all the things I say about him. Also, when I do complain about him, many times so as not to incriminate against him personally, I generalize it into a man bashing moment. I.e. husband didn't take out the trash after I asked him three times to do it. Hmm, now it's "Why don't men know how to take out the trash anymore? They just use women's lib to be lazy." I just need to vent once in a while. I go through it with NT's as well. But, if you can go through life without complaining about anyone around you in a generalized fashion, then go for it, but that would include grouping any drivers in a state, blondes, brunettes, men, women, kids, babies, cats, dogs, ... and Aspies who complain about NT's.

I don't even like the word NT. I have meet alot of NT more weird or disturbed than me. Where all the same, black - white, Aspies - non aspie. I dis-like the differentation.