flannan said:PoeticJustice said:Salutations my compatriots. Twas a summer night and I wondered how to further my own edification regarding japanese animation. I sweat and I sweat and I wondered, how to have a civil discussion with my colleagues without resorting to name calling and other things of that ilk. Tell me young ones, how does one discuss anime, civilly?
Civil discussion is not simple. But with care and forethought, it is possible.
1) First of all, clear your first post of any hostility. Hostility just breeds more hostility.
Attack neither the users, nor the genres, nor the specific anime, nor the specific characters.
2) Second, choose a place and time for a discussion. No civil discussion has ever happened on unmoderated *chans, and even lightly-moderated MAL tends to breed hostility.
Discussing anime with your friends IRL while relaxing and drinking tea is probably the best. But if you can't do it, well, try following the rest of the advice here, and you might have a civil discussion even on a place as unrefined as MAL.
3) Third, think of a good topic for discussion. A good discussion needs a good topic.
It might seem hard to find a topic that does not violate point 1 inherently, but this is not the end of it.
If you fill the topic with love, it might just end up as a listing thread of the pictures that you like. Which is fine too, but not a discussion.
If you open up a topic that is too commonly discussed, there would be nothing for the users to tell one another, and the only thing left would be to hurl insults. Topics about loli are a good example - people are either sane people like me or horrible monstrosities who fail to listen to reason. No matter which side you're on.
This is the main reason bad topics swarm out good ones. Woe is us, but persevere, and rationality will prevail.
4) Describe your topic well. Badly-said topics make people confused and angry.
If you find your first post was confusing, do not hesitate to edit it.
5) When asking people for opinions that are best resolved with numbers, not arguments, make a poll.
It will cut down on the number of posts that simply state which side of the discussion the person is on.
Exercise wisdom and foresight to include all the major points of view, for people will be offended if their point of view is not represented at all. It is wise to discuss the possible answers in private with some people who are different from you, or learn from past discussions, for your own mind might have blind spots.
6) Take active part in your topics.
With the topicstarter present to steer the discussion, it would not go off into realms too controversial to discuss (see points 1 and 3), and would not fall prey to misunderstanding (see point 4).
This is probably not the end of things that one needs to do, but the end of my wisdom and experience on the subject. If only more topics were following this simple advice, we would know what other traps lie in the way of a good intellectual discussion.