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!