Jon Pretty

When interacting with @dibblego online it helps not to take him seriously. When he tweets he knows exactly how he'll be interpreted and he doesn't care; he thinks it's your fault for choosing to be offended. He wants you to ban him to prove a point, so by all means…make his day.https://twitter.com/dibblego/status/1087124016488312832 …

You may notice that some people tolerate the abusive things he says, and that's probably because they've met him in person: he's undeniably witty and charming. You'd find it hard not to like him. He might be irritated at me after this thread, but I do enjoy chatting to him a lot.

But my advice is to take him for what he is: a skilled jester with a penchant for bad language and some solid FP advice: you can learn a lot from him, but he'll make you work hard to see past the façade. And in case you're tempted, I would just recommend not rising to his bait.

He and I agreed to differ on his approach. Every community has its outliers whose beliefs fall outside the mainstream and @dibblego is no different. I wish he could see how unpersuasive his arguments are. But he's incorrigible, so you're better off just being insensible to him.

And I'm not trying to defend any of the behavior that gets him banned so often; I'm just offering a coping strategy. If you meet someone who encounters him for the first time, just give them a head-up that he's a unique and curious character, and not to listen to the insults.