I've been accused of being a troll multiple times. It typically happens when I spot vague but powerful claims from somebody who claimed to be highly educated.<p>For example, somebody may claim that a programming or software technique is "clearly better". I ask for clear-cut objective evidence, and they either cannot provide it, or make unproven assumptions about the thought process of the programmer's mind.<p>The bottom line is that programming productivity is largely something that happens inside the human mind; it's not about machines nor pure logic. They didn't seem to understand this, trying to turn it into a "purist" argument about math and logic alone. Sorry, it's not, you have to consider the poorly-mapped human mind in the end.<p>Also, high-end academics tend not to understand business. They may say parsimony (least code) is the best, for example. I'll then point out that many coders find highly compact code hard to read or debug. They may reply "then get better programmers". That's usually not practical from a business standpoint for various reason I don't have room for. Their alternatives usually have a lot of holes, not knowing how business works.<p>I admit I took pleasure in rubbing their nose in these facts and gaps because they made smug claims. There's a certain wonderful satisfaction in making smug people trip on their own logic, reminding me of a show where a corporate polluter ultimately dies by falling into their own pollution pile. Maybe I'm a bit narcissistic, I don't know. But it's worthy criticism that hopefully wakes them up regardless. Being logically whipped by a "troll" can be fruitful education.<p>I also rip into interpretations of terminology like "best practices", definition of OOP, "types", "intent", and many others. Somebody will claim it clear cut and settled, but it's not, and I poke holes in all their defenses.<p>There are different kinds of trolls. Some just want to agitate for agitation alone. But I instead beat people up with their own logic, rather than use tricks and personal digs. I have been accused of "word play", but vague words are fair game for word play in order to demonstrate they are vague. They wouldn't be "playable" if they weren't vague. People tend to assume their own interpretation of words is universal. It's usually not; but they are reluctant to admit it.<p>Being in dozens of vocab debates, I'm pretty skilled at picking apart vagueness, and the other side realizes they are out-gunned and go bonkers on the way down, smoking. I don't claim to be smarter, I just selected a few areas where I perfect the art of "trolling" via experience alone.<p>And sometimes I am actually wrong and learn something along the way. Good debates do that.