Subject: Re: newbie: problems with strings From: Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.net> Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 19:13:07 GMT Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp Message-ID: <3222616388758619@naggum.net> * Dr. Edmund Weitz | I _thought_ your posting was wrong and tried to correct it. Just assume that what I write is correct. It will save you a lot of trouble. I spend a lot of time and energy to make sure that I do not post trash when answering technical questions. When I am uncertain, I post questions, not answers -- that is how I got where I am today. I think you should adopt a similar strategy, as it would lead to a lot less opportunity to insult people with an implied "you're lazy and wrong" even when they have paid attention and made a serious effort to be correct. You have an _obligation_ not to post misinformation and wrong answers, and it is _terribly_ insulting to imply that somebody else has not done either by following up a correct answer with bogus reply, accident or not. It is not as if you do not have time to look things up before you reply to something you think it incorrect. It is not as if you could not first listen and then try to correct if it turns out _actually_ wrong. Intellectual laziness is flat out unforgivable in my book, and implying that somebody is guilty of this when they clearly are not is ipso facto deeply insulting. | As it turns out and was clarified by Kent Pitman, it was _me_ who was | wrong and I've apologized for the confusion. Curiously, you chose to insult me again instead of apologizing to me, even though it was me you insulted to begin with. Then you try to make it my fault that you insult me, which I do _not_ appreciate. That you do not seem to understand this is not encouraging, either. Who knows, now, how much bogosity has crept into your other postings? You clearly did not check up on what I said before you thought it was wrong. This is a _very_ bad sign. I expect _so_ much better from someone who signs his posts with his doctorate degree. | I nevertheless see no reason for your aggressive and insulting language, | but that's your problem and not mine. You just _made_ it your problem as well as mine. Why did you do this? Furthermore, I have explained to you that you implied wrongdoing on the part of somebody else where the only wrongdoing was your own laziness. If you do not see this a reason to dislike your response, just grow a clue. If you think my response was aggressive and insulting, grow another clue: you just gave me a good reason to _be_ aggressive and insult you because you had the very bad taste to post your whining opinion that imputed even more wrongdoing to me. How do you expect me to respond when _you_ are such an insulting bastard towards me? _Here is a clue: Stop being so whiny about things you do not understand. LISTEN to other people! They may be right even when you think they are wrong, in more ways than merely technical, and it _is_ insulting and arrogant to assume that you do not need to check your references properly when you want to correct someone else, even when you _are_ right. The reason I am correct almost all the time, is precisely that I check up on what I write before I respond. The reason I get pissed at people who post trash is that I listen to them first, but then it turns out that most of them are just lazy idiots who post crap, not only wasting my time, but ridiculing every person who pays attention to details, who strives to post correct technical answers, who spends time and energy to help people with serious suggestions. Because very few opinions are _clearly_ wrong, one must look beyond the conclusion to find the observations it is based on and the method used to reach the conclusion, and when the conclusion and opinion is based on almost no observations and complete lack of method, it was an insult to the audience to post the opinion the first place. | [My last posting in this thread.] I assume you have your reasons to take this so personally and to be so goddamn snotty about it, too, but would you mind keeping that to yourself and _try_ to whine to somebody who cares instead of going off the handle publicly? Thank you for not replying with more of the same crap. /// -- In a fight against something, the fight has value, victory has none. In a fight for something, the fight is a loss, victory merely relief.