X-Message-Number: 28129
References: <>
From: Kennita Watson <>
Subject: Public Service Announcement (was Re: CryoNet #28120 - #28126)
Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2006 10:24:27 -0700

Robert Ettinger wrote:
> Anyone who doesn't have his head too far up his butt should instantly
> recognize...

Children, STOP!  So far in this digest I've seen
rampant attack, defensiveness, insult, anger,
desperation, and no end of emotional outbursts
wrapped in flags of dialectic.  I think everybody
can stand to a) put messages aside before
responding to them; b) read them more charitably
(three long, slow deep breaths can help a lot);
c) reread responses with thought to what benefit
the person to whom one is responding is likely to
derive from them (and rewrite as needed); d) reread
them again with thought to what benefit the rest of
the "studio audience" will derive from them (and
rewrite as needed); e) if the answer to both c) and
d) is "virtually none", even after rewriting, then
don't send the message -- just venting can come
across as chest-thumping or whining, and doesn't
get anybody anywhere.

This all can take a lot longer than tossing off the
first thing that comes to mind, but that's not
necessarily a bad thing.

NOTE:  If you decide that someone is trolling, DO
NOT RESPOND, not even to say "I think you're a
troll, so I'm not going to respond".  In my
experience, only deafening silence works -- it can
also be very hard to do.

In hopes that this will make a difference and not
just be a case in point --

Live long and prosper,
Kennita
--
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
none but ourselves can free our minds.
           -- Bob Marley, "Redemption Song"

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