A2K civility.

When i saw the title of this thread . . . i thought it was going to be a work of fiction . . .

Sometimes, when the same two opposing views are expressed over and over again by the same two posters and they go back and forth going round in circles, then agreeing to disagree is preferable to keeping it going. The alternative is allowing one person to have the last say (without saying so, because then it isn't the last say) by simply walking away.

yeppers, it's the endless whining about it gets my goat. ie does anyone actually read the "women/rape" thread?

Civility is a fiction if all you want to do is trade insults... I don't... Sure, I will call a spade a spade, and a towel a towel; but it isn't worth much to me... The internet is a big room and my arm is too short to allow me to dust every one who needs a good dusting... What do you think???

Ah, dyslexia doesn't know what he is talking about. It is sooo much fun to watch two people make fools of themselves. As Willie Shakespeare has rightly said,

Someone must be. It's at the top of "new posts" often enough. I haven't opened it in ages.

I don't see how "well reasoned. knowledgeable, rational and strongly held opinions" is anti-civility nor how "emotion based babbling" implies "middle of the road." My experience is that the emotional babbling is usually about a strongly held opinion that is far from the middle of the road. Do I think the rants detract from the experience: yes. Do I think I have the right to restrict others' right to rant: no. I can always skim past their posts, thumb them down or just put them on ignore if I so choose. About the only thing that mildly irritates me is when someone announces that they are putting a fellow poster on hold and that's just my personal idiosyncrasy.

I go along with that. There are several people whom i ignore, but i don't make a melodramatic point of announcing it. About the only time i comment on it is when someone else is quoting them in the midst of a discussion, and i feel compelled to point out that i don't read that member's posts. Otherwise, just scroll . . .

I don't have a problem with saying "let's agree to disagree," as long as it's understood that we still disagree. Too many times, however, the person who wants to "agree to disagree" really means "let's agree to overlook this disagreement and move on to something else." Well, no, I'm not going to do that. We disagree, which means that I'm right and you're wrong. If you want to adopt my perspective on things, then we have a basis for moving forward. If not, then don't pretend that we don't disagree any more, or that there's some chance that, in the future, I'll actually come around to your way of thinking. I just don't see that happening.

poster A "Italy is the largest nation in europe"
poster B "Italy is * size according to "source" and "source" and "source."
poster A "Italy is the largest nation in europe"
repeat above for 31 pages until "Let's agree to disagree"
or;
poster B "you're an idiot, bye"

Apart from wanting so see a more artistic expression, i'll go with the "you're an idiot, bye" post in that situation.

yes.

Wow. Infallibility on the internet, how did I miss that until now.

Over-civility might be an overreaction that lobotomizes conversation, but I don't see this all too often.

The example you give with Italy isn't a case of someone being overly civil. It would pretty rude to others in a thread to fill page after page with an endless back and forth. How is this being overly considerate? Jumping to the "you're an idiot" could be the truth, but when has this tactic ever ended these types of cycles? It only provokes it further and now your thread about paninis that already digressed to a discussion on Italy's size, is now further thrashed by a flame war. All the people who might actually like to talk about toasted sandwiches are gone (including most likely the OP), and it's now only a sport of one-up-manship based on who has the greatest endurance.

There is a value to simply agreeing to disagree. Some people aren't reasonable, and it's not worth your time.

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doh! "you're and idiot, bye" what does "bye" mean to you? To me, it means "this dialogue is over, I'm outta here"

As usual, I dysagree with everything that old coot dyslexia says.

It rarely plays out that way, but yes, the "bye" is important.

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hence the intent of this thread.

Classic bartender line:

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Take it outside boys!