Havamal Snippets 125: Good men do not deabte with less worthy men

A good man should not debate with a man less worthy than him because the less worthy (possibly meaning less noble, honest, decent etc) man does not play by the same rules as the good man.  This is because a less worthy man, like a woman, is only interested in winning the argument rather than proving a point.  A less worthy man will use debating tactics that will and pervert and contort all decent logic in an attempt to win the argument.  Sometimes they will resort to personal name calling, or mockery.  Many of the tactics seen on an internet forum by flamers are the same as used by 'less worthy' men in real life, but the real life debaters also have the advantage of physical force to win their argument.

HERE is a webpage with a list of 54 well known dishonest debating tactics, like 'name calling', 'straw men', 'appeal to authority' that you might find useful.  (Scroll down until you see 'Politicians, con men' in red text).

 
125
Ráðumk þér Loddfáfnir
en þú ráð nemir
njóta mundu ef þú nemr
þér munu góð ef þú getr
þrimr orðum senna
skalattu þér við verra mann
opt inn betri bilar
þá er inn verri vegr              
 
I advise you, Loddfafnir,
to take advice;
you would benefit, it you took it,
good will come to you, if you accept it:
[6] you must not [5] dispute even three words
with a man less worthy than you:
often the better man is defeated
when the worser attacks.


[End.]