Subject: Re: OT: Usenet lack of civility (was Re: Logical pathname hosts.) From: Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.no> Date: 1998/12/25 Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp Message-ID: <3123561138089518@naggum.no> * Barry Margolin <barmar@bbnplanet.com> | In the case of technical newsgroups (which you would intuitively expect to | be *more* civil), my suspicion is that some people who frequently post | answers feel that the fact that they're volunteering assistance gives them | the right to act however they want. this is so obviously wrong it's sickening to hear it touted as theory. let me illustrate with something I found in somebody's signature: *** DON'T SEND TECHNICAL QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO ME, post them to newsgroups. is that hostile to stupid people, or _what_? the author of this line effectively _yells_ at strangers, long before they could every ask their questions. why is this? is it because he doesn't know how to ignore incoming mail? is it because he feels _invaded_ by people when they send mail to him? is it because he thinks people who don't understand the very simplest things about listening to public advice should just go die? I really don't know which, but I find it amusing that the same person goes to great length to defend the people he bars from his own mailbox, saying, in effect: "sure it's OK to annoy everybody else, but stay away from _my_ mailbox". what's lacking on USENET is the ability that almost all animals and people have -- to notice that you annoy somebody else. stupidity _does_ annoy people who try to help those who want to learn. ever seen the reaction a stupid person who doesn't "get" that he's annoying a lecturer with stupid questions receives from that lecturer and the audience? Barry's been trying to blame me for everything for the longest time, but let me ask him in return: why does he give stupid people the right to be annoying and want to protect them experience any negative feedback from their behavior? | As I said, this is just my opinion, I don't know if it's actually why | Erik likes to flame so much here (especially at Sam, it seems). Sam is especially stupid, and is especially protected by something or other (it could be you, Barry) from realizing that he needs to do his homework, pay attention, and figure out what he's good at instead of doing lots of things so badly it cries out for harsh negative reaction. #:Erik -- Nie wieder KrF! Nie wieder KrF! Nie wieder KrF! Nie wieder KrF!