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What does it achieve to try to offend? If you offend as a byproduct of trying to persuade as a goal to change things, then that's OK.

But if the goal is just to troll some emotional reaction, and not change anything, what is the point?

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Not, that's not the goal, if they feel offended or not is a irrelevant by-product, they already made their mind, the goal is for the anyone else watching the discussion from the fences (e.g. the undecided, the ones watching their twitter-feed, anyone) how ridiculous an stance or an idea is, also because it's entertaining, and as we know making things more entertaining makes them more likely to be shared and/or remembered.

> What does it achieve to try to offend?

Mockery is quite useful to onlookers.

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