[seiji]

Be more tactful and civil in your discussions.

Not every opinion is valid or deserving of civil rebuttal. It's a result of modern "every opinion is equally valid as fact" syndrome. We don't have time to cordially try to rewire your brain to think the sky isn't green.

Also, when trolls are trolling, they want elaborate thought out responses to their drivel. It's easier to shut them down with "wrong." And, as we know, you can't distinguish an intentional troll from someone with sincerely warped views of the world.

In short, shut it all down. They should be inspired to research their wrongness to turn into more right-thinking apes.

[relevant life story: one of my high school math teachers had a big "WRONG" stamp (with red ink) he would enthusiastically smash onto your work if you were, well, wrong.]

[xauronx]

The problem is that some people think that being incorrect or having a different opinion = trolling. If I honestly think that PHP is a great backend language ( I honestly think it's a FINE one), and I say it on HN, I know at least one person will go: "WRONG. PHP is [some bad thing]. You should use [some new language]." They may even think I'm trolling for having that opinion.

The truth is that you don't know the other person, but you should respect yourself enough to be a civil human and speak online as if you were speaking in a public place. Even if you're not speaking to your next employer, he may be right behind you and hear you talking like an ass.

[mgallivan]

We should shut down other people who are being needlessly facetious.

But to suggest that rejection should be our default behavior is absurd. Discussion should be encouraged because, more often than not, neither side is 100% correct. The way we further ourselves is by talking to those people with dissimilar views.

[seiji]

more often than not, neither side is 100% correct.

You are very right. The problem is when one side stands up and says: "We are obviously right. We will never change our opinions or ideas. You must agree with us or die."

At that point, the reasonable side doesn't have any options left. You can't argue with crazy.

Take the current US Congress situation. One side is saying, "We want to hurt you." The other side isn't saying "Okay, how much do you want to hurt me? Let's find a compromise where you can just cut off my hand." No. The only way to stop American elected terrorists is to tell them "No."

If people have valid points, you can draw out truth. If they have points based on pride, ego, or falsely implanted childhood memories, you can't do anything productive except stop them. If that doesn't work, ignore them.

Topics of note which regularly draw out crazy people from one side: nobody needs college, X city is better for startups, religion Y is right, bitcoin is a "currency," (or anything else getting 400+ comments around here).