JazzManJim
On the Downbeat
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2001
- Posts
- 27,360
I've been doing some reading here and, well, there's a lot of bullshit flying around.
I bet you've seen it.
Guess what's caused it?
Yep...the ol' "Ad Hominem" attack: when someone attacks the person making an argument instead of the argument itself. It's a pretty chickenshit way of discussing an issue because it closes down debate and clouds the real issue in a storm of name-calling and insults. You can't get to the heart of a debate once the name calling starts. When that happens, it's over. Shut off the lights. Close the door. Kill the thread, 'cause it's dead, Jim.
Unfortunately, it's what happens here a lot. The recent "fat chicks and bitches" thread and the subsequent threads which spun off from it are recent examples. Luckily, many of the main people involved haven't responded in kind, else things would be a lot worse.
So, here's the deal. When someone makes a comment, regardless of how you take it, check yourself for a second before you type the response. Are you about to attack the person who made the comment? Better think twice. Did the person attack you directly? Did he or she call you by name? No? Then ease off. Maybe the person just made a disparaging remark about a group of people of which you may be a member. If that's the case, then he wasn't insulting you directly. There's probably a good chance that the poster had no idea at all what groups you belong to. More than likely the poster is doing one of two things: venting about the behavior of a group of people who have done him wrong most recently or whose behavior has confused or angered him, or he's trying to get a cheap rise out of you. In either case, the only good response is a reasonable and calm one. Period. If he then turns on you directly and calls you bad names, then fire away. You have weapons free.
In short, lighten the hell up. It ain't personal unless your name's attached to it.
I bet you've seen it.
Guess what's caused it?
Yep...the ol' "Ad Hominem" attack: when someone attacks the person making an argument instead of the argument itself. It's a pretty chickenshit way of discussing an issue because it closes down debate and clouds the real issue in a storm of name-calling and insults. You can't get to the heart of a debate once the name calling starts. When that happens, it's over. Shut off the lights. Close the door. Kill the thread, 'cause it's dead, Jim.
Unfortunately, it's what happens here a lot. The recent "fat chicks and bitches" thread and the subsequent threads which spun off from it are recent examples. Luckily, many of the main people involved haven't responded in kind, else things would be a lot worse.
So, here's the deal. When someone makes a comment, regardless of how you take it, check yourself for a second before you type the response. Are you about to attack the person who made the comment? Better think twice. Did the person attack you directly? Did he or she call you by name? No? Then ease off. Maybe the person just made a disparaging remark about a group of people of which you may be a member. If that's the case, then he wasn't insulting you directly. There's probably a good chance that the poster had no idea at all what groups you belong to. More than likely the poster is doing one of two things: venting about the behavior of a group of people who have done him wrong most recently or whose behavior has confused or angered him, or he's trying to get a cheap rise out of you. In either case, the only good response is a reasonable and calm one. Period. If he then turns on you directly and calls you bad names, then fire away. You have weapons free.
In short, lighten the hell up. It ain't personal unless your name's attached to it.
