Subject: Re: Servlets in CL From: Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.no> Date: 2000/05/20 Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp Message-ID: <3167813769163543@naggum.no> * Ingvar Mattsson <gruk@algonet.se> | //Ingvar (aigh! I'm defending Erik!) Wrong. You're not defending _me_. You're not agreeing with _me_, either. You're defending something you, too, believe to be true, quite independently of me or that I agree with _you_. If you have to subordinate your defense of truth or what you believe in to who else believes it, I seriously suggest you rethink your value system. It is as bogus to defend _people_ because of what they say or do as it is to attack _people_ because of what they say or do. Those who confuse them naturally feel attacked or defended personally because of what they say or do, and that complicates things immensely when you want to praise or criticize opinions or actions. Let's mature beyond such _unwarranted_ feelings of personal closeness and instead concentrate on ideas and actions -- that way, people who have said or done something can be praised or criticized without affecting their ego, and they can remain free to say or do something else. If we focus on people, we lock them into what they have said and have done, and restrict their freedom to change their mind and their ways. This is not to say that personal like or dislike is immaterial, but there is much evidence to suggest that human psyche is unable to deal with more than a handful of _personal_ relationships, and that there is a good reason for professional conduct instead of personal conduct, and thus of limiting one's like or dislike to the relevant aspects of whoever you're dealing with. Those who are forced beyond their limits get into serious trouble, such as nurses who "bond" with patients or prostitutes, to take but two well-known examples. Personal relationships are _very_ valuable, and they create a very valuable emotion: that of personal obligations. Do not waste them on people you don't know -- it _will_ hurt you and others may not appreciate the implicit obligations, either. With that serious matter out of the way, I appreciate that you took the time to help me set the record straight. You have no obligation to continue to help me, and I hope nobody attacks you for anything you could only be assumed to agree with, but on USENET, people who fail completely to distinguish between the action and whoever acts _have_ been known to fail in other ways, as well. #:Erik -- If this is not what you expected, please alter your expectations.