Does mob mentality rule A2K?

The thought has crossed my mind, but I haven't been finding you bothersome enough just yet.

Listen, I'm not complaining. Just saying things as I see them. And as I see it, a significant group on this board tends to over-react on issues related to religion, sex and love, as if those issues were hot buttons for some unknown reason... It's kinda strange to me. What compulsion do they have to disparage posters who want to talk about that?

Oh I can fix that.

what do you do IRL in situations like that? do you shout back or ignore them?

I find that if the debaters are reasonably courteous and have interesting, well-reasoned arguments I enjoy the read and/or participation in the debate.

I'm more likely to pull the plug on people who are pointlessly rude and/or unable to put together a good debate position.

My views on it have definitely evolved over the years ... as have my opinions/beliefs in a few areas.

I'm also better about not looking for personal sore spots to poke a stick at. There was definitely a time where I got gleeful poking at someone til they started to get hysterical. I grew out of it. (and the poster I particularly liked to set off is long gone)

They call it ... evolution

your reference to us/them as infantile is different in what way?

for good reason eh

Most of the times I try to engage them. Maybe I shouldn't.

I've got the virtual feathers.

Who was supposed to bring the virtual tar?

How does it work out in real life when you try to engage people who are yelling at you?

I am calling a particular posting behavior infantile, not an opinion. I think it's okay to discuss good board etiquette. E.g. using insults as a routine behavior to try and stamp down debate can legitimately be called a problem. And by calling it a problem, I am not insulting anyone.

Similarly, group think and ganging up against new posters can be problems in boards such as this one, and I believe it is a legitimate discussion to have.

nononono

Let's assume you are perfectly correct with your contention.

Why would you expect the "A2K Mob" to ever agree with you, or acknowledge there is any degree of legitimacy to your assertion?

And yet you continue to argue with the Mob.

Hey, you're free to post whatever you please here, but I'm just trying to save you some frustration. If you're getting a kick out of it, then carry on.

I hear you. Yet you can't always retreat, for it emboldens them.

However, given your early history on this board, you didn't always put your money where your mouth is...

as Frank pointed out earlier in the thread, people can't agree on the colour of the sky on A2K

there may be times when some posters agree with other posters they've agreed with on other topics, but I'd honestly be hard-pressed to think of any two posters who always agree with each other. Even hawkeye and bill (who some people consider a matched set) have regular disagreements.

I'll have to disagree with you there. You may think you've been too elegant in your phrasing for people to realize they've been insulted/disparaged ... but we/they spot it.

You, and so many others, seem to be on defensive side of this. It is like admitting the OP was right. But of course, you already know that.

Point taken, but I've seen a few cases of a new poster asking a totally innocuous question being met with much too much throwback...

I must admit that in the case of nonono I have no clue and should probably have shut up.

There was of course a reproach in there, about how a group of longtime friends and foes can unwittingly tend to exclude newcomers. And even wittingly, and even for good reasons at times, since so many wackos come and go… But such a group can also be unfair at times, and some of the group think may seem trite from the outside.

What are you referring to, Timur?

I don't shy away from a fight, but did I ever start one?

I don't always do it, but sometimes when I spot something like that I will go back and try to read a poster's history. If they're really getting whacked for no good reason I will say something. More often than not though, I discover there's some kind of pre-history.

Of course, there's also probably not a lot of across the board agreement on what constitutes an innocuous post/question. I sometimes marvel at the things that disturb some people. I also wonder at the things that some people think are normal.