debate or excuse to offend and agravate?

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I was new to this neck of WP i was reading a few of the threads and was quite interested in a few of the topics. it was on one of these threads that i noticed a "debate" unfolding as i was watching. i saw a member who had what i considered some interesting points being what i can only really call harassed by another member spamming contrary and inflammatory arguments in what seemed to simply be an attempt to annoy as opposed to offering any contribution to what could have been an interesting debate. i posted a reply trying to stop this and ended up on the receiving end of the same aggravating behavior. i had no interest in the academic merits of this persons arguments nor the inclination to respond further but found myself being goaded into childish tit for tat posts. i wondered how often this happens and if people are as put off by this as i am? i also wondered if any other interesting debates had been derailed by this and if people were tired of this going on?

How can you have a debate if no-one offers an opposing view?

That is not the assumption made here

I can't answer your poll in the absence of concrete examples of what you consider "offensive," and what it is that causes you "aggravation" that have been allowed to stand in threads at PPR.

FWIW, I think it would be much worse to shut down debate by imputing a motive of deliberate "offensiveness" or "abuse" to someone than not, at least as things seem to generally proceed within PPR. Honestly, I think the moderating team at WP on balance does a very good job at keeping things from degenerating into tedious flame wars.

edit for clarity, sorry

i would hate if i have implied any impediment to the free thought and debate going on here. I also think the moderators do a great job in these situations. it is your choice not to vote and i value and respect your feedback. what i found aggravating was when i had explained in the post which i mentioned that i was becoming aggravated and explained my reasoning then asked if the poster would please refrain from continuing to do this. did not want to continue in the debate as it had edged on some issues i have had a deep trauma with. however the poster repeatedly quoted me and tried to keep pushing a debate that was causing me distress. he is entitled to his view and i am entitled to mine i have absolutely no issue with that. however i could only interpret this as needlessly aggravating behavior. i wondered how many other people here have found themselves similarly goaded into an endless debate and if this is a recurrent theme here. this is a genuine question feel free to answer how you feel i will be interested in the results.

i agree completely and i have. i do not usually have this reaction to discussion and enjoy debate on occasion. the fact that this was an unusual response for me made me post this poll. i wanted to know if its just me being sensitive to a past trauma or if this is a common experience that others may relate to

As per the guidelines for this particular forum; we (the mods) only lightly moderate here. In the past other moderators have either abandoned PPR and it was survival of the most offensive and trollish or others have tried to clamp down hard... and failed... they ended up banning half the regular posters here (slight exaggeration but you get the drift). The members themselves wanted a forum where they could debate freely with minimal moderator intervention. We only tend to step in if there are blatant personal attacks as opposed to posts that goad or offend. Many members have strong opinions on many hot topics and hold very opposing views, so it is inevitable that some members feel offended by strong counter opinions.

different people have different notions and personal interpretations of what is ethical. i did not mean to convey ethics as a morally defined word i would love to hear what peoples interpretations are in regards to this question.
is it a useful form of rhetoric or just a pain n the butt

there are never only two sides to an opinion
just as there are never only two answers as i have
provided on the poll
this is more to provoke thought and discussion than anything else

This is a very difficult thing to talk about because the moment a person says "Yes - this does happen" someone who usually prolifically disagrees with them will jump all over their back screaming crocodile tears on the part of their opponent and that such declaration is all low-brow social politics, the pot calling the kettle black, etc. etc.

Some people, regardless of what their viewpoints happen to be, really have a problem with viewpoints other than their own being expressed and they will jump up and down on such posters to try and make them go away. I think it's far better to just keep posting whatever you want to post as food-for-thought and ignore such egging than to shut down and stop posting.

At the end of the day if a person truly pushes to be objective the only person's objectivity they can trust is their own. Accordingly they make a terrible mistake if they let scorn or brow-beating hypnotize them into believing their wrong just because of how intensely the other person tried to belittle them. Similarly the most powerful response quite often is the non-response and refusal to edify another poster's aggression.

That said I won't debate the ethics of whether ad hominem and trolling are ethical, we could get into a whole debate on whether ethics are real, whether or not there's anything out there other than might or endurance makes right, but I would say that the people doing it waste no one's time, energy, and potential more than their own.