Trolling for Fun and Whatever...

I tend to stroll through comments on media sites and leave a number of my own. Some of the other commenters view me as a troll: dropping comments seemingly intended to cause a stir or rile others. Perhaps I am. Though that is not my intent. My intent is to instigate some critical thinking.

I also intend to get people to question something called "conventional wisdom." I usually fail at this. I suppose it's difficult to do for so many. Not for me, however, I have always done this. I guess you could say I never got over my "Why?" phase as a toddler.

One of the things that gets me labeled as a troll is that I have a low tolerance for robotic thought. And I get bored easily. So I leave a comment, defend it for a few exchanges, and then just move on.

I found a phrase in an Ambrose Bierce story that I have already used in ending a "conversation." It goes like this:

Against stupidity, even the Gods themselves are helpless.

The actual quote should be:

Against stupidity the very gods themselves contend in vain.

And it is attributed to a German named Friedrich Schiller, a German poet, historian, dramatist, and playwright. His full name is Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller. Which, I suppose, means he is used to some latitude in quoting his words.

Bierce called him an "ancient Roman" in the story, which couldn't be farther from the truth so I don't feel bad about paraphrasing the quote.

I am fascinated by comments on stories on the media sites. They tell me something (most like a distortion) of the general public feeling about various issues. I am sometimes appalled by what I read. Sometimes I am pleased, and all too often I am bored.