decot@cwruecmp.UUCP (Dave Decot) (03/01/84)
Readers of articles often feel that the author misunderstands the issue s/he is writing about. Perhaps the reader thinks that the author is being un/intentionally misled by some person or group. It is very difficult for the reader to indicate such opinions without some reference to the article's author. Upon receiving such indications, many authors seem to think their judgement, intelligence, and sometimes their common sense are being insulted, and flame back with retributional insults, although no offense was intended by the critic. A related problem occurs when critic actually DOES insult the author's rational thinking capacity or moral eptitude in addition to expressing dissent. Please be aware of these problems. When responding to a particularly "stupid" article, make sure you understand what the author MEANT, or ask for clarification before flaming. Remember that you are writing to a human being, and not necessarily someone whose sole intention is to mislead the network populace. Dave Decot "Ignorant sluts are people, too." decvax!cwruecmp!decot (Decot.Case@rand-relay)