Having an Axe to Grind ≠ Sharpening Your Axe

Some housekeeping to keep the comments sane

"An ax to grind" by TheDigitel Myrtle Beach is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Back around 2017, I found myself fighting a Russian-funded bot army on Twitter. This was no fun at all, particularly as I was trying to work full time as an investigative journalist at the same time. Dealing with bot armies can be a little time consuming.

Vladimir Putin was funding the bots because he thought that Catalan independence would weaken Europe. At the same time, I felt it was my duty as a Barcelona-based journalist to fact-check some of the movement’s narratives. I went onto Twitter (and later Substack) to spread the shocking message that Spain isn’t actually a fascist state, 48% isn’t a majority and nationalism is rarely progressive or good for society. My phone used to buzz constantly for up to 48 hours after each tweet or thread with a barrage of notifications, many of them clearly from bots. Subsequent investigations showed widespread Russian disinformation on Catalan issues, as I found out to my cost.

While the bots were annoying, there was another class of social media user that I came to find almost more irritating. Although I am bilingual with Spanish, I tweet in English. I came across “reply guys” who were often foreigners living in Catalonia and defending what George Orwell called “transferred nationalism.” Others were often English-speaking Catalans, many of whom lived abroad.

The other person would begin politely enough with a comment or a question. I believe in politeness and openness, so I would reply. Seconds later, another reply would follow. I would spend a little time researching my replies, which often include links to other sources and book recommendations. Another reply. And another one. And another one. Sometimes the other person would end up commenting on multiple tweets simultaneously, making it hard to keep track of the conversation. I got the feeling that the people who did this never opened any of the links I sent.

What got particularly irritating was the sudden tacks in the conversation. We would be debating one issue, like maybe whether a majority of the Catalans supported independence. I would quote election results, opinion polls and link to the rules on changing the Catalan Statute of Autonomy and the Spanish Constitution. And then suddenly once it was clear to anyone reading that the reply guy was losing the argument, he or she would suddenly change tack and start talking about some other aspect of the narrative.

Nobody who did this ever thanked me for my time or admitted learning anything or growing in any way. The other guy might have thought it was a debate, but really it was an exercise in cognitive dissonance and nothing else.

I would often tell the other people that I was busy. My work needs hard concentration at times. The other guy would just continue replying and replying and replying. I remember sitting on a bus to the airport at some unholy hour and apologizing to someone that I wouldn’t be able to continue the conversation for a couple of days. He just kept going and going and going and going and going. Another guy thought the beginning of Spain’s first COVID lockdown was a great moment to rehash all the ancient grievances. Sorry, but no. I ended up using Twitter’s mute and block tools a lot more and eventually limited who could reply to my tweets.

In my mind, there is a big difference between someone who has an axe to grind and sharpening your axe. First of all, the constant changes of subject show that the axe-grinder isn’t interested in a real debate at all. At best, it is a bad-faith pseudo-debate. Secondly, nobody pays me for my presence on Twitter or Substack. I do it because I want to do it and it is a labour of love. The amount of time I can devote to it is finite given that I also have to earn a living, raise a family and go to the gym, not to mention sleep at night. Please don’t abuse my politeness just because you feel your worldview is under threat.

Thirdly, if you can’t cope with people having a different take from you, it is a warning sign that you might be a hedgehog. Instead of trying to “convert” others to your pet cause, why not see what you can learn from the foxes of the world and maybe strive to become more fox-like yourself?

I have opened the comments on most non-Catalan subjects on my Substack this year. Surprise! An axe-grinder appeared. She politely asked me to comment on her own blog on conspiracy theories. I did, mainly telling her about the Bayesian approach. She immediately started writing comment after comment. Her worldview includes unverified beliefs in mind control, speculation about the planes crashing into the World Trade Center being holograms, deliberate misreadings of health information from public authorities, hunches that people with opposing points of view might not be real and a passionate defence of why theologians have a better understanding of why buildings collapse better than engineers. She also said that YouTube documentaries from crackpots can be a better source of information than credible non-fiction books from well-respected authors. It all got so bonkers and time consuming that I had to ban her from commenting more.

Although I will (mostly) keep the comments open, it is time for some minimal rules. Don’t be an axe-grinder! One or two comments per post are fine. A conversation about methodology is always more interesting than one on our conclusions. If I send you some links in the reply, please click on them and think about them. If I recommend a book, why not go away, read it and then come back for a deeper conversation in a month? If you find my views incredibly irritating, the comments aren’t a great forum. Why not set up your own Substack and write a detailed essay on why you disagree with me or others?

If you want to debate me, I have questions before we begin: What is the format of the debate? What are the rules? Is there a referee? How do we decide what is a victory and what is a loss? Are you willing to concede if you lose? What time does the debate start? Most importantly, what time does it stop?

As usual, the comments are unavailable when I discuss Catalan issues. Life is too short! See you next week!

Further Reading

Cognitive Dissonance: 50 Years of a Classic Theory by Joel M. Cooper

Sharpen Your Axe is a project to develop a community who want to think critically about the media, conspiracy theories and current affairs without getting conned by gurus selling fringe views. Please subscribe to get this content in your inbox every week. Shares on social media are appreciated! If this is the first post you have seen, I recommend starting with the first-anniversary post, which includes links to a free book.

Opinions expressed on Substack and Twitter are those of Rupert Cocke as an individual and do not reflect the opinions or views of the organization where he works or its subsidiaries.