05-26-2009, 08:37 PM
Quote:The big question is: did my contribution maintain or elevate the discussion, or did it reduce it? Insults, exaggerations, strawmen, "me too" posts, and so forth, devolve threads into worthlessness.I didn't come here to 'elevate' discussions, either. Too many people have been doing that, if you ask me, to a point where few dare participate and the rest has to accept 'lurker' status. My reasons are much more mundane than that: to put in my opinion when I disagree with others who do the same.
Insults? I don't keep dragging someones intellect into matters, so I'll assume you mean this in a general sense. Exaggerations? True, I tend to project arguments that I perceive as silly into absurdity. Not a nice habit, but I do try to keep it somewhat humerous, and I never do it with numbers or other traceble facts. I do realize, now, that my 'exaggerations' might have been misunderstood, so I'll try to make it as clear as Pete's Hotel-and-breakfast example, next time. Strawmen? Honestly, I know nothing about strawmen, except that Pete has accused me of it before, and that you and Pete were accusing eachother earlier of using (being?) one. Could you explain what it is? "Me too" posts? I may be guilty of having made such posts, but always with something in addition or to make something clear. My number of "Great post, Pete!" replies will not be very large, though:)
Quote:Read carefully before posting, don't put words in someone's mouth, and avoid making an argument personal. Do those things, and you'll avoid most of the flak you've gotten so far in this thread.Well, English isn't my native language and I'm not above interpreting words wrongly, so it would help if you guys keep things a bit more comprehensible, sometimes. I'm sure that will also help in the 'put words in mouth' department. As for the flak, don't worry about me. This is only a forum, after all, and if it gets out of hand some moderator will surely step in :unsure: