I've noticed there's this particular flavour of trolling that sometimes comes from people who are not total doorknobs, but who seem to be overwhelmed, betimes, with the intense desire to throw rocks at hornet's nests. I don't know why. But I got a strong impression that this guy wanted people to be mad at him.

Ahh, but not mad at him for any reason. Coming in with a "your so gay" comment would have that effect, but not in a satisfying way. No, I think the enjoyment comes from playing intellectual martyr. "Their definitions were unsound," he thinks, "so I questioned them. All I cared about was the truth. Like Socrates, man. Like Galileo." The trouble is that what's really happening is not that he's applying cold, merciless logic to what people say to him: he's actually just responding with a dismissive smirk, and then brainstorming a follow-up question by picking semantic nits so that it sounds like he's being all Socratic.

I knew so damn many people in high school who loved playing that game. Most of them grew out of it.