No intent or motivation has been fabricated. You write with contempt, your OP was based on contempt. You ARE snide and sneering, in your writing. The fact that you are now couching that in politeness doesn’t really change anything other than the vocabulary.
Unless of course, arguing about that would involve posting in a straightforward thread that isn’t an elaborate put on/whoosh.
Can someone bring me up to speed on all the feuds? I’ve really missed a lot in the past couple years.
You shouldn’t, as I’ve take the time to explain this before. I guess the knowledge just didn’t stick. In the scientific community, every new piece of verifiable objective evidence has to be synthesized into the whole. There is no simple consensus. A few other disciplines work this way too.
I’ll give an example. Prior to the 1980’s, it was widely believed that earth’s orbital eccentricities and rotational obliquity generally coincided with, and explained, the cycle of ice ages. The explanation fit the available data. Then greenhouse gas measurements were made in a series of ice core samples and it was found that increased levels were coincident with known ice ages. Were they a cause or an effect? Probably the former, but clearly this new data needed to be added to… not used in place, nor ignored in favor of, the earlier work using eccentricity and obliquity. That is how it works. There isn’t a vote. No lobbying. No impassioned pleas to favor one data set over another.
Sure, you can find lots of references to “scientific consensus” or sensational stories of “scientific controversy”, but in the absence of the media or big egos, the method is not supposed to work that way.
I don’t have any comment on what appears to be a social experiment in the pitted thread. Scylla has shown that some Rush critics seem to enjoy irony, as their emotional criticisms use logical fallacies similar to those in Rush’s original inane statements. It is no wonder that such a loathsome imbecile is able to develop a following. Rush, I mean, not Scylla. Still, I thought social experiments were forbidden.
No one should be granted a license to practice sociology. Either we do it collectively, or it isn’t done at all.
If I can weigh in with some thoughts, Scylla, I think there’s some grey area you may be overlooking. Do forgive me of I’ve overlooked something in this thread, it’s been a bit since I’ve read through the entire thing.
What you’ve been saying about conduct on a message board vs. conduct in real life is, on the whole, something I agree with. I don’t wish to maintain a separate ‘persona’ just for message boards and what have you. I tend to view message boards not a separate domains, though, but more like separate contexts.
For example, if you and I are coworkers (not necessarily best friends), our interactions would vary by context. My conduct towards you would be different at work, versus at lunch, versus at the bar on Friday evening.
Even as a total stranger, let’s say you cut in front of me in line. At a bank, I might say, “excuse me!” but at a convenience store I might say, “hey!” Part of my reaction is not just based on you, but my environment at other people around me.
The extreme example, I suppose, is that I can joke about bombs with you in line at McDonalds (altho I wouldn’t joke too loudly), but I’d not even say the b-word in an airport security line.
I don’t know that I view it as cowardice to call someone names here in the Pit, but not to do so in real life. In the context of a message board, standards of language are relaxed because consequences are limited. I don’t think it’s a cop out, I think it’s an inherent part of the medium which actually promotes greater interaction that you might get at your company picnic.
On the flip side, while I think context might restrict or free your behavior, I don’t think it should necessarily change it. If I think someone’s an absolute putz, I won’t tell them this online, then say “but you’re OK, really” to their face. To me, that’s deceit, plain and simple. If I detest them on line, I’ll avoid them in person - because most likely I don’t want to be around them. And if by some chance I did, say to punch their face in, I’ll avoid them even more so, because if my emotions are that strongly against them it’s probably not in my own best interested to be around them.
If this makes sense, maybe we ought to discuss what RTFirefly means by “polite” or “grown up” behavior…because it could well be he’s not trying to suppress his feelings in a deceitful manner, but just tempering them by context.
InkBlot
:eek:
Let me reiterate so that it’s perfectly clear. You can expect to be treated in real life by me in accordance with your behavior towards me here. If you wish civility and politeness, you should offer it. Your failure to offer it one context does not give you the right to demand it in another.
That you do not expect my response to be in accordance with your behavior is unreasonable.
That’s really all there is to it.
Yeah, well, trouble with that is, you have a long history of expecting a level of deference and respect you are often unwilling to return. Its one thing to deal with Scylla, its oftimes quite another to deal with the guy Scylla thinks he is.
I’ve always loved you.
Do you get the same readings when you turn the e-meter off?
I was at a party once where a father berated his child in front of the other guests. That might have been perfectly acceptable had there not been others present. But the rest of us felt pretty damned uncomfortable.
Children should know better than to think they can get away with acting like brats just because they are in public.
This must be some sort of ‘excluded middle’ dumbshittery. Not that it seems to have anything to do with anything anyway.
One more time:
If you wish to be pleasant with me there. Be pleasant with me here, and I will reciprocrate. Don’t and neither will I.
It’s not debatable from your end.
Allow me to make a suggestion. You’ve stated you’re concerned about other people’s good time. Consider the possibility that your multiple threads and the drama they are generating likely has a far greater impact on spoiling the party for others than the fact that I have told that if you are not nice to me you shouldn’t expect nice from me. It is likely having a far greater impact than any conversation you and I might have there.
So, if you do care about these others, than just let it go and ask a mod to close this thread.
I see no reason but if you need further closure, I’ll invite you to email me provided you can be civil, as it’s a family email.
Why bother, though? Why not just drop it and play nice?
I have to go bench press now 
Ok, I do feel compelled to comment on the topic of socially retarded dopers threatening to be rude to one another at a face to face meeting. Jesus Christ in a pink leotard, folks! You should start by being ecstatic that someone wants to meet you publicly for any purpose at all other than that of stealing your milk money or hurling a dodge ball at your head. Bench press, whack off, wax your balls and paint them gold… you ain’t fooling anyone with your he-man routine.
Did that yesterday afternoon, actually. After they closed the other thread, I clicked one of the red triangles in this one and typed, “Feel free to close this one too.” Not sure why it hasn’t happened yet.
But I’ll try again.
OK.