ad hominem

Don't worry.  I'm not going to go through dozens of fallacies.  Actual debate takes place very rarely in our society.  However, I have run into this one so many times in the last year and it has been used so dismissively, I did wish to mention it.

In my opinion, if you mock a person's physical appearance you have already lost your argument whatever it be. 

Ad hominem has often been compounded with Argument by Generalization in the cases that come to mind.  The result are "arguments" that contain words like "libtard".  Obviously, I see no value in debating such arguments.

So, why I am writing?  Because we are better than that.  We did not get here by throwing slander at one another.  Yes, we did it often, but it is not the primary source of our many accomplishments.  We do not persuade others by mocking them.  We may persuade third parties from time to time.

It is time to remove the venom from the discussion.  It is time to act like adults again.  The only idea that has come to me thus far is to respond to such fallacious arguments by identifying them.  This will probably be seen as "trolling".  I hope one day, it will simply be considered "debating" again.