eric@snark.UUCP (11/26/87)
I have now been attacked three separate times for stating my opinion that
MESmith is out of his mind, and I understand there is a fourth one waiting
in alt.flame which ought to be good for a chuckle or two.
The attackers evidently didn't read my posting very carefully, or else I
was less clear than I thought in stating my opinions. For the benefit of
anyone else who may be confused, if they care, let me state the following:
1. I do not claim to have medical authority nor an MD's training; my
statements are therefore to be considered opinions, at best informed
opinions.
2. I do not think MESmith is evil, wrotten, wrong, stupid or a no-good-shit.
I *do* think he is a person who, under great stress, has substantially
lost contact with consensus reality.
3. I believe there is a lesson here in the evils of sexism -- not the one
MESmith and his indignant defenders would have us draw, but a sobering
reminder of the costs of anti-female prejudice in the damage it does
to people who might otherwise be well-integrated, contributing and even
outstanding members of society.
MESmith's defenders really amuse me. They rake me over the coals for
making "strong statements about a person I've never even met" while implicitly
defending his right to scoriate entire *classes* of victims that have never
even heard of him -- most libertarians, most USENET sysops, most males.
You know, I think I have more respect for MESmith than they do -- *I'm* willing
to treat him as though he's responsible for his behavior.
Finally, I promise that I will issue a public retraction of my expressed
belief that MESmith is a delusional paranoid when he retracts his
reiterated claim that he has been deliberately victimized by a nationwide
conspiracy of sysops intent on suppressing his freedom of expression.
Until that happens, I intend to direct all flames on this topic to /dev/null
without replying.
[P.S.: My use of male gender pronouns for MESmith is intended to respect "his"
expressed wishes, but should not be taken as an endorsement of "his"
socio-semantic theories.]
--
Eric S. Raymond
UUCP: {{seismo,ihnp4,rutgers}!cbmvax,sdcrdcf!burdvax,vu-vlsi}!snark!eric
Post: 22 South Warren Avenue, Malvern, PA 19355 Phone: (215)-296-5718daveb@geac.UUCP (11/30/87)
In article <288@snark.UUCP> eric@snark.UUCP writes: >I have now been attacked three separate times for stating my opinion that >MESmith is out of his mind... >1. I do not claim to have medical authority nor an MD's training; my > statements are therefore to be considered opinions, at best informed > opinions. As you are not a medically trained individual, you can't depend on a title to make your opinion believable, have to demonstrate the validity of your argument. I submit you have not done so. >2. I do not think MESmith is evil, wrotten, wrong, stupid or a no-good-shit. > I *do* think he is a person who, under great stress, has substantially > lost contact with consensus reality. The last two words are critical: the argument is from consensus. While this is (well, was) traditional in psycology, it is not the only definition of reality. The consensus on the shape of the earth (flat), the causes of madness (demonic possession), etc., have often been wrong. To summarize "humans are as fallible collectively as individually". > >3. I believe there is a lesson here in the evils of sexism -- not the one > MESmith and his indignant defenders would have us draw, but a sobering > reminder of the costs of anti-female prejudice in the damage it does Now *there's* something I can agree with. -- David Collier-Brown. {mnetor|yetti|utgpu}!geac!daveb Geac Computers International Inc., | Computer Science loses its 350 Steelcase Road,Markham, Ontario, | memory (if not its mind) CANADA, L3R 1B3 (416) 475-0525 x3279 | every 6 months.