Survival Skills:
Defenses against Character Assassination.
If you have ever taken the unpopular position of pointing out the hardcore actual facts about a topic to any group on a message board, you have likely been the target of a Character Assassination attempt by those that were benefiting from the misrepresentation going on.
You don't, however have to succumb to the viscous assault directed at your online persona. There are a number of tools that not only can thwart your attackers, but also can even help further spreading of the truth you've exposed. These tools are not limited to investment related boards, they have been in use on many topics in my over twenty years of posting. At the end of this article I will include an example of these tools in action. Feel free to use it whenever you need to protect yourself.
Tool Number One: KNOW YOUR OPPONENT
This is both the simplest and most difficult tool to employ. The most common mistake is to color your opponent's comments with your own reactions. Review your opponent's posts without reacting to them. You should be able to see each of the weaknesses in the argument being made. Usually the biggest weakness is the absolute absence of fact. Everything will be innuendo and insinuation. From this the audience is supposed to infer the 'truth'. Be ready to take the position apart point by point.
Tool Number Two: STATE YOUR CASE UNEMOTIONALLY
Remove all passion, emotion, rhetoric and/or personal information from your post. DO NOT directly attack your opponent. DO NOT restate ANY of your opponent's points. Simply present your factual evidence. Your opportunity to take your opponent's position apart will come soon enough.
Tool Number Three: LET EVERYONE KNOW WHAT IS COMING
If you have done your homework for step one you can get very specific here. However the example below, though generic in nature will cover almost every possible opponent's tactics in character assassination. Politely apologize for the board having to put up with the nonsense that your opponent will dish out, but don't refer to your opponent directly. What will amaze you is how your opponent will deliver almost as if they take this post and check off each item one by one. As they do so it discredits them in the eyes of many and adds to your credibility.
Tool Number Four: THE NON-DENIAL DENIAL
This is the most critical step. Your opponent will invariably try to stop your factual presentation by appearing to deny without actually saying, "it isn't true". As an example I refer to the movie "All the President's Men" because one of history's most famous Non-denial Denials is issued by President Nixon when the Watergate Story is first broken. It is also in this film that the term Non-denial Denial is first used outside of a newsrooms inner sanctum. Essentially, what you are looking for is a statement like this…
"If you are inferring that I have done something wrong you are sadly mistaken."
On the surface this reads as a denial, but closer inspection reveals that what is really being said is this…
"You've got me but I'm not going to admit it."
I highly recommend you watch "All the President's Men" as they cover this topic quite well.
On a side note, one peculiar quirk of Message boards is that the NDD is often accompanied by an attempt to deflect your assertion of fact back to you as an attempt at some illegal or unethical behavior on your part. Be sure to point this out when you see it.
Tool Number Five: KEEP THE AUDIENCE INFORMED
As your opponent posts, respond unemotionally by pointing out the errors in logic, factual misrepresentation, the Non-denial Denials, and the personal attacks made by your opponent. NEVER respond directly to your opponent. Always talk to the Audience when pointing out your opponent's mistakes. At the end of your post you may (once you're more experienced) choose to bait your opponent into issuing another post for you to pick apart.
Tool Number Six: REPEAT AS NECESSARY
Remember an argument is intended to be a series of connected statements that lead to a conclusion satisfactory to those involved. Your opponent has likely forgot this, If they ever learned it at all. Don't fall into the trap of responding directly to them, that increases their credibility and undermines yours. It isn't easy to follow that sometimes but the effort to maintain that position pays big dividends.
In conclusion,
I wish you all good fortune in dealing with character assassins. They have a great deal invested in their positions and will stop at nothing to prevent the truth from being told. It doesn't help matters that so many sheep are more than willing not only to be fleeced, but to unwittingly aid in the fleecing new sheep. Our task is a thankless one. Furthering the efforts to improve critical thinking in others though will develop our own thinking processes.
This is an example of the post you might use in tool #3.
Ladies and Gentlemen...
I apologize for what is about to ensue. It appears that my logic has correctly deduced the situation. Since my detractors have no reasonable argument to combat my assertions, they launch the personal assaults upon my character, sanity, morals and intellect. Heck they may even begin to explore sexual inadequacy references or possibly attempt to question what my preference is.
I had hoped that I was mistaken in my assertion, however the proof is in the pudding. Left with the option of fessing up or attempting character assassination the Guilty will always choose assassination. For those of you that will read all of the upcoming vitriol please notice that an out right unequivocal denial will not be issued. As anyone who has ever seen 'All the Presidents Men' will remember, one of the key elements in the breaking of the Watergate Story was Nixon's *Non-denial Denial*.
As these are presented I will point them out. Of course they can outright lie and issue a bona fide denial. But that may expose them to prosecution for quite a few things should the truth turn out otherwise.
David Weed
aka the Bird of Prey
www.warp-drive.com
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