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A comment on I created Godwin's Law in 1990 as a warning. Parent comment

Re:I created Godwin's Law in 1990 as a warning by maxerickson on Saturday May 28, 2016 @05:06PM (#11793516)
They don't necessarily mean that it is fun to be an ass.

I think it's probably a fine line, but there are "trollish" comments that can be made that aren't even disingenuous, never mind nasty or negative.

The so called old school trolling wasn't about disruptive behavior, it was about getting people to consider thoughts that they aren't necessarily comfortable with. And not necessarily uncomfortable in a dark or disturbing way.

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Re:I created Godwin's Law in 1990 as a warning by golemotron on Saturday May 28, 2016 @07:45PM (#11794093)
Trolling is a good way to induce the sort of cognitive dissonance that changes minds. Jonathan Swift's 'A Modest Proposal' is an exemplar of this.
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