Copycat's Guide to Left-Wing Troll Hunting.

(from an old forum post)

If you spend much time in political forums, or any forum, really, you have no doubt encountered that bane of rational thought and discussion, the Troll. This is a creature who feeds off the chaos and discord caused by his thoughtless, and irrational posts. Wikipedia defines a Troll as:

"someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion."

Some have slightly different definitions, but that one covers the basics.

For more information, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)

The aim of these guidelines is to help you deal with a particular species of troll, the liberal-progressive (LP) political troll (Trollus liberalus-ignoramous).

To Identify this type, we will start with the most obvious aspects, and work to the most subtle. This is because there are differing levels of the manefestation of the characteristics, and it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish a liberal troll from a well-meaning, but mentally deficient human liberal,or a true liberal (see Dr. Rubenproven's work on the subject)

an LP troll may:
-Attack the character of the other participants, or call them names.
-Ignore sited information and scientific proofs as "conservative propaganda"(see climategate)
-Blame Bush (whether Bush has any bearing on the matter or not)
-Change the subject of the debate. This happens when the troll nears his "blank out" point (the point at which any logic the troll's argument had deviates from his rhetoric) or when the consequences go beyond the 1 or 2 steps that the troll has considered (google unintended consequences for examples).

Remember, the troll feeds off emotional response. So NEVER show emotion. Structure your arguments logically, never accept a faulty premise, and most of all, have fun. Troll hunting can be a good oppurtunity to hone your debating skills, while impressing the other participants of the community.

Here are some methods to use when troll hunting.


-Stick to answering 1 thread and subject at a time. Don't let the opponent shift the subject.

-Whenever possible, argue the underlying principle instead of the specific issue. using extreme examples of the principle behind your opponent's argument, you force him to either admit the absurdity, or defend it.

-Try to form questions in the form: "why should you do x for me?" This forces him to defend his premise while fighting his own inate selfishness.

-If the opponent makes a good specific point which conflicts with principle, acknowledge the point, but point out the conflict.

-Try to set ground rules with your opponent, and point out violations.

-Try to get the opponent to agree on a premise, then show how their argument contradicts the premise they agreed to.

-Use sarcasm, silliness, or ridicule sparingly, if at all.

-Never attack your opponent, attack his argument. No name calling.

-Whenever possible, use the "desert island" analogy. This gets all "laws" out of the way, and forces the consideration of only the rights involved.

-Everything can be related to the free market, you just have to follow the logic to its conclusion.

-Point out that every person will act in a way to increase his happiness, even if he considers that happiness to be the "warm fuzzy feeling" of helping his fellow man. Some consider wealth as happiness.

Most importantly, NEVER call a troll a troll. This is what they want, and counts as name calling. If you do this, you have lost the argument and the troll has just had a hearty meal that will sustain him for many posts to come.

I hope this guide helps you to understand and defeat the next troll you encounter. It could save your sanity.