# What were you THINKING? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532 "2023-10-13T19:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 81
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1601 "2024-03-17T21:28:23Z")
@BigT: I have been mulling my post for over a week before finally speaking up for reasons much like yours. She is a person living a very difficult life. Or so she’s told us in other threads. And I believe her in that. But that doesn’t give anyone a pass to a) go off the deep end _and_ b) continue to be seen as a capable pleasant mostly-sensible person. Here’s a comment I’ve made in other contexts, including IRL, to other people > You can choose your actions or you can choose your consequences. You don’t get to choose both. As applied here that means shouting ignorant nonsense will get you labeled as a shouter of ignorant nonsense, not as a paragon of calm wisdom. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1602 "2024-03-17T21:33:01Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > but as a compromise between that principle and my blood pressure, I put the dumbfuck on temporary ignore. I simply take note of who started a thread before I open it from the new thread page. There are a number of thread-starters I refuse to click on. If I screw up and click anyhow, the [normal] button makes it disappear from my subsequent reading queue. In **Jackson99** ’s case, he (?) seems to start most of the threads he later destroys. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1603 "2024-03-17T22:01:12Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > She’s typical of the sort of utterly uninformed doofus that is allowed to vote, and pretty much explains the current state of the USA. Just out of curiosity, who do you think should be _allowed_ to vote? Sorry, this sentence caught my eye and I’d like more information. Because this sounds awfully snotty, but I don’t want to jump to conclusions. (Which also sounds snotty and isn’t my intent.) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1604 "2024-03-17T22:02:14Z")
What a soundbite! ~Max ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1605 "2024-03-17T22:20:15Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Just out of curiosity, who do you think should be _allowed_ to vote? Kindly reel in your fish line, unhook the bait and set it free, and listen to what I meant. The issue doesn’t center on the matter of who should, literally, be allowed to vote. All citizens should. The issue is the utter failure of the media to support an informed populace, which is the absolute essence of a functional democracy. This is a much lesser problem in nations that support robust public broadcasting (where the US is dead last among all industrialized nations, and by a wide margin) and some nations that even subsidize newspapers as a matter of public interest. My cite for the above is that an utterly corrupt swindler and all-around con man was elected president of the US, and may be yet again despite 90+ criminal indictments, which apparently make said uninformed doofuses love him even more. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1606 "2024-03-17T22:21:06Z")
I think y’all are being too hard on her. She did get vaxxed, which is saying something. She’s surrounded by bozos who spout nonsense, and some of it rubs off. Us telling her the facts is good, but it’s not going to change someone overnight. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1607 "2024-03-17T22:25:31Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Kindly reel in your fish line, unhook the bait and set it free, and listen to what I meant. No “baiting” was intended, and I should have worded it differently. For what it’s worth, I agree with you. It was just your word choice that made me do a double take, hence my request for more information. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1608 "2024-03-17T22:36:15Z")
Agreed. I think some of the posts in that thread were misunderstood. By me. By others. And then the overzealous nit-picking pulls everything apart. She’s allowed her beliefs. I totally support her right to state them. Even if I don’t always agree. Up and until it hurts others. I follow mandates further than recommended because I like to live. If you don’t have a visceral fear of death because of your religious conviction you won’t feel that way. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1609 "2024-03-17T22:39:16Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > She’s allowed her beliefs. I totally support her right to state them. Even if I don’t always agree. Up and until it hurts others. This sums up my attitude nicely. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2024, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1610 "2024-03-17T22:44:34Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > She’s allowed her beliefs. I totally support her right to state them. Yes, she is, and yes she’s allowed to state them. But when the beliefs are unscientific and literally life-threateningly dangerous bullshit that she’s bought into because of her poor information sources, then her statements do deserve a strong rebuttal. Otherwise we’re on the road to all the enlightenment enjoyed by the plague-infested denizens of the Middle Ages. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1611 "2024-03-18T00:13:39Z")
Not every one is able to or even know there are vast volumes of medical literature on spreadable diseases. If you have lived a disenfranchised life and the government has failed you over and over again you’re not likely to trust anything they say. Bad decisions, bad information, bad life experience can make you run to where you get compassion and understanding. It may be religion or family or your pet cat. Either way you feel comforted and tend to want that. I’m the ding-battyist person on this board and I’ve learned volumes. So can others. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1612 "2024-03-18T00:17:50Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I finally laid out the facts one last time as clearly as I could and told the dumbfuck that there was no point in having any further conversations with him. To which he responded with another lengthy diatribe and a bunch of maps to show me that I had no idea what I was talking about regarding this place where I had lived and worked most of my adult life. He just won’t learn, and just won’t stop. Now I’m just ignoring the dumbfuck, and suggest that others might want to do the same. Yeah, his utter unwillingness to listen to people who **actually live there** is pretty impressive. After he’s now, twice, avoided answering my question as to whether he’s ever been to Canada, I think I may just need to perma-snooze his posts. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1613 "2024-03-18T00:19:24Z")
I don’t love your posting style, but you’re far from the ding-battyist person on this board. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1614 "2024-03-18T01:20:12Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > you’re far from the > ding-battyist person on this board. Which raises the fascinating question of: “who is?” I’m not trying to put you on the spot to answer that, just thanking you for indirectly raising the question. Later tonight I may post a Pit thread asking for collective opinions on that. Not gonna tackle that on my phone in a bar/eatery as I am right now. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1615 "2024-03-18T01:41:17Z")
Oh lord. That won’t be pleasant. I implore you, put it in IMHO or something. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1616 "2024-03-18T01:45:33Z")
Or maybe just don’t do it. That could get ugly, especially when reasons are given. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1617 "2024-03-18T01:53:56Z")
Please don’t, naming people is nothing but trouble. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1618 "2024-03-18T02:07:42Z")
I agree with @Beckdawrek , @EddyTeddyFreddy and @What_Exit. Those sorts of threads, even when nominally positive (“who’s your favorite poster?”) smack of high school “most popular,” “most likely to succeed,” etc. etc. votes. (True fact: my 8th grade class did one of those, with “most musical” as one of the categories. As a practical matter, I deserved to win, since I really WAS the most musical kid. But one popular girl, probably thinking she was being kind, took me aside and said, “I know you probably think you should win that one, CairoCarol, based on your musical activities. But you won’t win, because it’s more about who is popular than who is really the ‘most’ of anything.” I recall responding with a mild-mannered, “okay,” while thinking, _Girl, you are such as asshat._ I did win, however. I hope she felt stupid when she saw the voting results.) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1619 "2024-03-18T02:07:48Z")
Advice taken. Thanks all. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/1620 "2024-03-18T02:46:48Z")
Hmmm. I’m gonna vote for you for “most reasonable poster” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=80) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=82)