From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Mon Aug 12 2002 - 19:13:09 MDT
Alex writes
> > It's a mailing list for people with a common philosophy --it's not a
> > podium for the most brash participants to boast their self-righteous
> > ideological supremacy over and over again to people who, quite
> > frankly, don't really care.
> >
> Does this really need to be said?
No, it doesn't need to be said, because even though it's true,
there isn't anything to be done about it. Some people have
better taste than others, and good and bad taste are subjective
anyway. It's about as useful as those who used to ask, "What
if they gave a war, and no one came?". It seems to me a
sentiment that means, basically, "if everyone were only as
sensible as I, the world would be a much better place".
Harvey adds
> I have not yet found a strategy [against the problem of abuse]
> that works. Logic doesn't work. Peer pressure doesn't work.
> More criticism just fans the flames. Less criticism just allows
> them to burn unstopped. Debating the issue doesn't help. People
> on different sides simply won't agree on who started it or who is
> being abusive. Both sides tend to only see abuses on the opposing
> sides. Nothing works.
Yes, nothing should be expected to work. Nor will the people on
opposing sides agree as to who is being logical or who is being
reasonable.
> This is the number one problem with this and all such lists.
This is a "problem" with a lot more than email lists. It's a
problem preceding humankind. Our emotions, our logic, our
perceptions, and even our memories are inextricably linked.
In fact, it's so pervasive, we shouldn't approach it as a
"problem", but just accept it as a natural limitation.
However! One can begin to spot patterns in one's own and
others reactions. For example, here is a common one that I've
seen occur between prominent Extropian posters on several
occasions.
Person A says something, and person B accurately retorts. But
unfortunately, person B was just getting going, (and was doubtlessly
reveling in his or her "refutation"), and doesn't stop there. Person
B proceeds then to *churn* the analysis, to really swing into it,
and ends up completely over-reacting. Naturally, then, person A
retorts in the same fashion.
I myself was guilty of this "person B" behavior just last week.
Now it's fine to look down our noses at, say, Mike and Samantha,
and exclaim, "now children... naughty naughty!". But is anyone
on this list completely free of having done the same thing? All
we can do, IMO, as individuals is slowly learn and grow, and
that's pretty much a private thing.
Lee
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 09:16:02 MST