Behaviour on this board
Mar 27, 2003 4:43:44 GMT -5
Post by M. Beaux-Eaux on Mar 27, 2003 4:43:44 GMT -5
Insomnia can have some benefits.
An observation: the greatest danger of things spinning out of control on this forum exists when one poster focuses on reacting to another poster's opinion and then by extension the poster himself; rather than commenting on the actual post, and leaving it at that.
As an alternative to locking threads in this forum, I suggest the following:
That each poster be encouraged to clean up their posts retroactively (when they come across old posts they have made), to either edit or delete those posts which attack another poster, and are not an impersonal response to the ideas put forward in a post. This action would be entirely voluntary, except in instances where one poster by name calls out other posters (then it is incumbent on a moderator to make the necessary edit, without disturbing the body of the argument, and place a warning flag).
In short, feel free to attack the post, but refrain from attacking the poster.
If you feel the argument isn't going your way, don't throw a tantrum and resort to name calling, malicious invective, and/or off-topic tirades—create a better counter-argument instead, or shut up and let it slide until you have a calm, rational rebuttal to the post worked out. Axe-grinding is both noisy and boring—it lacks respect, introduces no new thoughts, and is generally devoid of wit.
Above all, realize that yelling at and insulting another poster is just plain wrong, besides being bad manners, and does absolutely nothing to make your own argument palatable or convincing to others—just the opposite, in fact.
Bringing someone over to your side of the fence, through presentation of facts and persuasive rational argument (or even a well-placed bon mot), rather than hammering away aggressively on one unvarying note, is far more satisfying—and is appreciated by the membership at large.
An observation: the greatest danger of things spinning out of control on this forum exists when one poster focuses on reacting to another poster's opinion and then by extension the poster himself; rather than commenting on the actual post, and leaving it at that.
As an alternative to locking threads in this forum, I suggest the following:
That each poster be encouraged to clean up their posts retroactively (when they come across old posts they have made), to either edit or delete those posts which attack another poster, and are not an impersonal response to the ideas put forward in a post. This action would be entirely voluntary, except in instances where one poster by name calls out other posters (then it is incumbent on a moderator to make the necessary edit, without disturbing the body of the argument, and place a warning flag).
In short, feel free to attack the post, but refrain from attacking the poster.
If you feel the argument isn't going your way, don't throw a tantrum and resort to name calling, malicious invective, and/or off-topic tirades—create a better counter-argument instead, or shut up and let it slide until you have a calm, rational rebuttal to the post worked out. Axe-grinding is both noisy and boring—it lacks respect, introduces no new thoughts, and is generally devoid of wit.
Above all, realize that yelling at and insulting another poster is just plain wrong, besides being bad manners, and does absolutely nothing to make your own argument palatable or convincing to others—just the opposite, in fact.
Bringing someone over to your side of the fence, through presentation of facts and persuasive rational argument (or even a well-placed bon mot), rather than hammering away aggressively on one unvarying note, is far more satisfying—and is appreciated by the membership at large.
