For all of my life, I have demonstrated narcissistic and egocentric traits, and this has typically manifested itself when I debate with other people. My family enjoys exchanging stories about how, when I was five- or six- or seven-years-old, I would constantly ask questions and debate with either my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles -- not necessarily about anything intellectually stimulating (I have been considered "gifted" all throughout my educational career, though I don't think I'm regarded as anything approaching "genius" or "prodigy") -- but about anything. And, a common fact for those who know me seems to be that I am undeniably stubborn and shackled by the strengths of my so-called convictions; by that, I mean, when I absolutely -- positively -- believe that I am right, and I am debating, there is no middle ground, and I have to convince the opposition that I am right. Now, obviously, this has not always worked; I've either been proven to be wrong, or people still refuse to accept what I consider to be an obvious truth. We could go on and on about where I believe this problematic trait derived itself from, but I didn't make this thread with the intent to simply vent on my frustration.
Since October 18th, 2005 (I was 14-years-old), I have been a member of KMC forums. For those three years, I debated in the Star Wars versus section. Admittedly, I have always been a fan of the Emperor since the very first day I watched the movies (for me, the key to a good sci-fi, drama, or action movie is a worthy villain), and so when I arrived, I was in for a surprise: Palpatine was considered an impossibly weak Sith Lord who accomplished his considerable goals through "luck" and by being the "benefactor of circumstance". So, I fought and fought and fought for three years, arguing to the contrary against a cabal of highly intelligent and much older users who were nonetheless gripped by unbelievable bias and dogma (they made tremendous arguments that Dooku, even, was superior to Darth Sidious).
Now, eventually, we managed to convince the rest of the forum about Palpatine's status as the most powerful Sith Lord and this cabal abdicated the forums entirely. But this new user, known as Nebaris (it was his first username) has been repeatedly been banned for being a sock after his original account was removed for rule breaking. Now, he's clearly very intelligent, but has taken the role of "devil's advocate" to a new extreme. We've all tried and tried for the past year to refute his constant assertions that Palpatine is actually a weak Sith Lord. The most recent thread is this (where he has only posted for the last few pages, the rest were posts made by the original cabal -- I am the user Gideon):
http://www.killermovies.com/forums/show ... st10207759
...Basically, to cut it short, I've thrown everything I can at him and he attempts to argue it. Thus back to my original problem: I feel that I've failed somehow, and by not continuing to argue it, by "agreeing to disagree" (the failed tactic I tried here), I am conceding the argument itself, when I know I'm right. But I just lack the ambition, I guess, to argue it.
Whew. So... what should I do (in both this problem and in the obvious mentality I have)?
Question
Moderator: Alyrium Denryle
