User:Titodutta/Essays/Watch your words, please!

Debate is an inseparable part of Wikipedia discussions. But some words you we use often makes a discussion more a riot than a constructive discussion and finally it ends with some personal attack, report to admins, noticeboards etc. Here are some suggestions on how we can try to make things easier by watching our words.

Don't predict about other editors

Most probably you brush with a blue color toothpaste every morning.
— Really? How do you know?

You'll often see comments like these–

• I don't think you read any newspaper...
• I think he is a school student....
• You most probably have not read this book

Now the question is how do I know that the other person is a school student who does not read newspaper and has not read a particular book? Am I an astrologer? See #Newton's third law of motion. If I predict about someone like this, there are good chances they will start predicting about us too. But, wait, we started discussion on some article issue and we have ended with predictions on editors. Is it that we wanted?

Discuss on the subject, not the speakers

In a Wikipedia discussion our main attention should be on the subject not on the speakers. Here are some suggestions on how we can concentrate more on subject of a discussion.

Comment	Revised comment
"You are wrong"	"The statement/information is wrong"
"You are doing nothing new"	"This is not a new proposal"
"You are giving rubbish points"	"The points given above are not very meaningful, because–" (See #Explain your controversial words)

These are specially needed when you are criticizing something., you don't need to revise your comment when you are going to say someone "You are awesome".

Newton's third law of motion

Newton's third law of motion states– To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.... If I hurt someone, there are good chances he'll hurt me back too.

Here is a scenario what can happen:

1. I hurt someone with 0.1X power (well 0.1x is of course negotiable, no one will call it a personal attack).
2. He catches it and replies with 0.5x power (again it is negotiable, only 0.5x power, it happens in every discussion, dude).
3. I get angry as I think all his points are non sense, I reply back an attack of 1.0x power.
4. He also gets angry as he also thinks all my points are non sense, he replies back with a 2.0x power
5. I → 5.0x
6. He → 10.0x

@#@##@ BOOM (@#&(&()@&*#)(&) DOOM (&@()&#!(&()!&#() BOOM

SOS: Someone call an admin please!

Forget Newton's third law of motion

An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind– Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

If someone is personally attacking us, he is already doing a wrong thing. He should concentrate on the subject, not the participants. Let's forget Newton's third law of motion which tells to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If he continues attacking us and crosses limit, we can report against him. But, we should not make a discussion a war-field by replying his harsh attacks in a harsher way. An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.

Words to watch

Here is a list of words whose usage might be risky in a discussion. Try not to use these unless it is truly needed and even if you use these, explain the reason of using these words –

• Spammer: You are a spammer, you are spamming etc...
• Vandalism: You are a vandal, you are vandalizing etc...
• Belong to X country/state: You belong to X countries which is a third world country and...
• Lying: You are lying
• Idiot/non sense/rubbish/shit: You are an idiot/ you are talking non sense....
• Previously blocked: Hey you were blocked 2 years ago, have you forgotten that? (Note: is the block relevant to the discussion?)

Explain your controversial words

You can briefly explain that part of your comment which might be controversial

Don't just say	But, explain...
I completely disagree.	Why do you completely disagree?
He is spamming	What made you think he is spamming? Add relevant links where you saw him spamming!
Your answer/idea is not helpful	Why you think his answer/idea is not helpful?