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Re:Sorry you feel that way: why passive aggression took over... by the_af on Wednesday November 29, 2023 @08:31AM (#38459097)
> The assertion I'm making is that words have meanings.

No, you are assigning specific meanings to words, and I'm disagreeing with them.

"That's not how aggression works" is an assertion you made without anything to back it up. It's just your opinion, and not very well justified either. (You also failed to explain how, in your opinion, aggression does work!).

The article itself doesn't show what you claim are the only possibilities for passive aggression.

Re:Sorry you feel that way: why passive aggression took over... by PH95VuimJjqBqy on Wednesday November 29, 2023 @09:31AM (#38459733)
These are not my definitions.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aggression

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/passive-aggressiv...

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Where you got stuck was in describing passive aggressive behavior as being motivated by laziness. It's a rationalization, a person could choose not to engage at all and that might be laziness, but to engage using passive aggressive behavior is to choose to be aggressive without honesty.

People do so in environments where they are powerless or cowardly.

Re:Sorry you feel that way: why passive aggression took over... by the_af on Wednesday November 29, 2023 @11:15AM (#38461274)
> These are not my definitions.

Great! In what way do you think those dictionary definitions support your point of view?

> Where you got stuck was in describing passive aggressive behavior as being motivated by laziness

No, that was merely an example. I'm not stuck, though I think you are when you claim that only by powerlessness or cowardice can passive-aggressivity be motivated. I didn't claim laziness was the only motivation!

> It's a rationalization

This explains nothing.

> People do so in environments where they are powerless or cowardly.

That's your opinion, which you've so far failed to support. Actually, what you failed to support is that those are the ONLY environments in which people behave in passive-aggressive ways; I don't disagree they are possible motivations (before, I gave you an "out" which you didn't take, so now you're locked in a hard to justify position of "it's the ONLY motivation" -- in a sense you're truly "stuck"!).

Re:Sorry you feel that way: why passive aggression took over... by PH95VuimJjqBqy on Wednesday November 29, 2023 @03:12PM (#38464627)
"I was motivated to exercise out of laziness".

"I was motivated to be aggressive out of laziness".

People will assume you're trying to make a joke, with good reason. Anyone seriously trying to claim they chose to be aggressive rather than silent out of laziness is involved in what's known as a post-hoc rationalization.

This stance only appears difficult to justify to you because in your head apparently words can have any meaning you want.

To draw an analogy. If I come across a child with down syndrome who vehemently argues that 1+1=3, that doesn't make it so (inb4 redefining binary operators in math). And at some point I can either care enough to try and educate this child or I can let them be with the understanding that they're going to have a harder time in life.

And so it is that I leave you.

Re:Sorry you feel that way: why passive aggression took over... by the_af on Wednesday November 29, 2023 @05:40PM (#38466306)
> Anyone seriously trying to claim they chose to be aggressive rather than silent out of laziness is involved in what's known as a post-hoc rationalization.

Thankfully that wasn't my claim, so good luck with your strawman!

You've failed to make your point. Your down's syndrome paragraph... I cannot even begin to decide whether it's offensive, or stupid, or both.

You've failed to say anything besides doubling down on your initial unsupported assertion, even after I graciously provided you with an "out".

And so I too must bid you adieu.