[LINK] Recognising the Troll

[David Boxall]

This has been in draft for some time and I'm now far from certain about 
the character in question. Anyway, another lesson from the Linkstorm:

The Troll is an Internet phenomenon. Though the psychopathy may exist in 
the real world, it's unleashed online.

First, for comparison, one who seems to be not a Troll but a True Believer.

BRD misrepresented the climate models, attempted to establish 
speculation on the significance of new data as evidence of their 
inadequacy and implied that lack of absolute certainty is reason for 
inaction. He did so, despite being previously put straight on the nature 
of the models (by me). When challenged, he resiled, saying that he had 
been "too casual" in his language.

On Link, Bernard has a long history of denial. Over time, it seems he 
has learned not to be too straightforward on this subject. It can 
therefore be difficult to determine exactly what he's trying to say.

Could BRD's descent into mendacity be attributable to dissonance arising 
from subconscious realisation of the improbability of that which he 
feels a need to believe? His inability to present convincing, factual 
arguments certainly calls into question the foundations of that belief.

TomK, on the other hand, started out sounding like a classic denier. The 
lunatic theory of a grand conspiracy involving the vast majority of our 
best qualified climate scientists is classic, mundane denialist fare, as 
are his cherry-picking and amateurish misinterpretation of data.

What set Tom apart, and led me to consider him a Troll, was the sheer 
volume of posts and their length. It's equivalent to shouting down and 
talking over your opponents. The impact is to reduce the usefulness of 
the list, which is the aim of a Troll.

The lack of subsequent posts calls into question my conclusion. The 
lesson remains, however.

The lesson? It can be difficult to tell Troll from fool. In impact, 
there may be no substantial difference.

-- 
David Boxall                    |  All that is required
                                |  for evil to prevail is
http://david.boxall.id.au       |  for good men to do nothing.
                                |     -- Edmund Burke (1729-1797)