lsheldon@cup.portal.com (Laurence Larry Sheldon) (09/24/89)
I have noticed a couple of things that I have come to the conclusion
are in each case tragedies and a sad commentary on the state of our
world.
One of these has bothered me for some time, but I have sort of grown a
callus on the sore-spot, so it bothers me less now--that is the tendency
of a number of people to abuse others because of what they say, because
of their poor spelling, grammar, syntax or typing skill, and because of
the site from which they posted.
The other is still rubbing sore--the large number of sad people who
begin a posting "I am new to the {net|group|board|world of computers} so
please be gentle, but . . ."chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (09/25/89)
>that is the tendency >of a number of people to abuse others because of what they say, Abuse is never welcome. Unfortunately, there *are* many people who are unable to argue the facts -- their idea of rebutting an argument is on the level of "so's your old man!" You don't win arguments that way, but if you p*ss off the other person enough, they'll go away in disgust and you can then claim victory. This is called the "the last one arguing wins" syndrome. If you want to know how to argue, go sign up for a debate class. I debated interscholastically in both high school and college, and you learn how to (among other things) understand and rebut an argument, follow the flow of a discussion and avoid getting sidetracked into trivialities. It's also good training in rhetoric and devil's advocacy. A *great* way to die painful deaths on the debate circuit is to switch from issues to people (overtly. covert insults are perfectly acceptable, once you figure out how...). Probably the best skills debate ever taught me were the ability to sound authoritative while having absolutely no idea what I'm talking about (the great "I left that card file at home!" syndrome) and being able to argue any position with great enthusiasm. Debate can be a lot of fun. Occasionally it accomplishes something, too. My biggest problem with USENET is that most people take it so bloody seriously. You can't have a good argument without someone getting nasty. Unfortunately. There just arent' many people who enjoy a good argument out there. It gets all too personal. >because >of their poor spelling, grammar, syntax or typing skill, Spelling flames are the last bastion of the person with no facts. If you can't argue a person's position, you shift the discussion into a tangent and hope people don't notice. Spelling wars serve no useful purpose (and are much different things like *helping* someone with their spelling). On the *other* hand, a person's *only* representation on the net is their writing. People who try to claim that their lack of skill shouldn't be a factor are kidding themselves -- if you write your resume in crayon, they are going to be turned down. Same here -- if you can't present your ideas clearly, people aren't going to understand them. So people should write the best they can. But that doesn't mean you yell at someone who makes mistakes. There's a difference between criticism/tutoring and abuse. The former, for instance, should be private. The latter, invariably, is loud and public. >The other is still rubbing sore--the large number of sad people who >begin a posting "I am new to the {net|group|board|world of computers} so >please be gentle, but . . ." The first time you do something, there's going to be some nervousness attached. Unfortunately, you also run into people who like bashing on the new and insecure. On CompuServe, on the other hand, when someone pops in for the first time and says hi, it's not unlikely that a dozen folks are going to walk up and introduce themselves and welcome the newcomer. It's sad that USENET is based so heavily on negative vibes and 'surviving' the idiots. If anyone wants to know why I'm spending more and more time on CI$ and less and less here.... -- Chuq Von Rospach <+> Editor,OtherRealms <+> Member SFWA/ASFA chuq@apple.com <+> CI$: 73317,635 <+> [This is myself speaking. I am not Appl Segmentation Fault. Core dumped.