Step 5: The Battle of Opinions

Now that you have a more comprehensive understanding of your opponent and their opinions you can learn to counter their ignorance. When dealing with people in person you will have to play to the relationship and situations you have to work with but by following the ideas of the 3 Pillars you can build the required groundwork.

For online interactions and social media we need to understand and utilise the tactics of the common troglodyte; misrepresent, misinterpret, dismiss, and insult.

The immediate response to a well thought out argument in the idiot playbook is to counter with unsubstantiated opinions and widespread quips that are usually emotionally charged and partially correct at best, and straight up dismissive and outright wrong at worst. They aren't trying to have a discussion, they aren't trying to persuade you with information, they are trying to anger and annoy and dismiss your ‘authority’ of knowledge over their 'sense of self'.

The trick is to state your facts and frame your argument as best you can with verifiable information, but only do this for your initial arguments because fact and nuance are about to go out the window, remember, we're arguing with an uncompromising idiot. You've already delivered your facts and supporting information, you’ve shown the audience your hand and you’ve already been silently judged. The audience has chosen their champions and only await to be entertained.

It's time to duel.

Like a duel, you choose the weapon (knowledge, wit, logic, literacy) and the opponent chooses the arena (analytical conversation, emotionally charged debate, dismissive insultation).

Your run of the mill moron will choose emotionally charged debate, dismissive insultation, or a combination thereof. They will reply with the tactics they know best misrepresent, misinterpret, dismiss, insult, because they lack any sort of verifiable sources or logic for the garbage they opine. But you have made your argument, you provided facts, and sources, and you are verifiably correct. You have attempted to erode the Pillar of Ignorance, maybe not theirs but hopefully the audiences, you no longer need to defend your opinion because your defence is indisputable.

Now you need to attack their pride, this is where you’re free to attack and bully their ignorance into submission. Don’t feel bad about causing emotional discomfort, their ignorance does plenty of that every day to many people. They won’t change their opinion, but I can guarantee you’re better equipped to use their own tools against them. Use your wit, logic, knowledge and literacy to misrepresent, misinterpret, dismiss, and insult their opinion and their mistakes in trying to express that opinion with brutal savagery. Unleash your creative side in an unmitigatable barrage of demeaning, disingenuous, displeasure. Twist their own words into insults like they twist facts into lies. Insult them in completely hypothetical and hysterical ways. Play against all of their ingrained insecurities and make them squirm and swear and yell with all the lack of comprehension and grammar that they possess, and your audience will love you.