Job Discussion Forums

[homersimpson]

Perhaps AT, but you have not read all my posts. I bashed President Bush for his (mis)handling of the Iraq War, for example. I don't think the U.S. is always right or the most important. At the same rate I don't think the U.S. is always wrong or the least important.
Let's end this merry-go-round, I'm getting dizzy.

[ShapeSphere]

Atlas wrote:

[ls650]

[kev7161]

But what tends to happen in these "discussions" is that many posters can't just make their points or politely disagree without mudslinging. I've tended to lash out once someone has written something to me or said something about me that was totally inappropriate. I've said this before, but it tends to be repeated:

If you start out a response with "In my opinion . . . " or "I feel that . . . ", then I never (well, rarely) feel insulted or attacked.

If you are citing a source and start off with "According to the latest AP wire news . . . " (or whatever) and then later say you have to agree with this news report, then I don't feel challenged at all.

If you start off by saying "Hey, a$$hole!" "Or, gee there goes that idiot Kevin again, spouting off at the mouth!", then my hackles go up.

I can't even remember the topic any longer, but one regular poster obviously disagreed with what I had to say so he shot back his own views and opinions (nothing wrong with that) and then finished it with the word "idiot." Was (is) this poster really that mean-spirited or is he just a little bolder behind the anonimity of the internet? Was "idiot" even necessary to get his points across?

I feel that everyone should have the chance to speak their mind but to start hurling insults and names at each other is no better than, well, the Democrats and Republicans in D.C.

[Sinobear]

Gee, there went that twit Kevin again, spouting off at the mouth! (I love the thought of your hackles raising, Kev!)

I'm tired of people stating opinion as fact (you can't make a fact out of an opinion by raising your voice) and those posters who think that their opinion must be correct. Let's take an example.

Poster A advises that a PDF can be unlocked to permit the copying and pasting of the contents.
Poster B shoots back to say that this is impossible (his/her/its opinion).
A quick search on Google shows quite clearly that PDFs can be unlocked (the legalities and morality of doing so aside).

Facts are irrefutable. Opinions are just that. If you don't know the facts, then your opinion doesn't count (when dealing with real-world issues).
One-upmanship and trying to "top" the other posters is immature and pointless. Some of us have a wealth of experience "in the real world" that is not limited to a TEFL course or what we've been told by others (hear-say). Try to fathom that before posting a dig on others.

I would never blindly argue with Talkdoc, for example, on issues dealing with psychology, as that man is an authority. I can offer my opinion on such matters, but without the experience and training, I cannot refute his educated writings without looking like a total spaz.
(edited) Either he is qualified as he says, or he goes through a lot of trouble to appear so - either way, a great man, indeed,
Although I've never entered into discourse with Moonraven, I find that she states her opinions clearly and decisively. Whether or not I think that she is all that she portends, is not a basis for me to whine or suggest that her posts be deleted.
(edited) She gave me $50 USD to say this.
(edited) Shapesphere gave me $100 USD to say he's a nice guy and to never question his posts. Oops! Which part wasn't I suppose to include?

It all boils down to respect. I respect a lot of posters, that I've never met before in person, because they can say what they mean, and mean what they say - whether or not I agree with their viewpoint. Unfortunately, there are others that I have no repsect for - automatic gamesayers (to borrow a phrase from Monty Python), anti-establishment people, anti-whatever is popular at the moment people, naive people whose entire "authority" is People/Us magazine and CNN...

To each his/her own. You cannot live abroad without a certain amount of fortitude, and cannot function in these forums without the same understanding, patience, decorum, and tolerance that we must project on our students.

Cheers!

And Kev, here's idiot boldly displayed: Idiot

[ShapeSphere]

Sinobear:

[Deconstructor]

If we could all follow facts and try to be as objective as possible without forgetting that most of what we do and say is based on subjectivity, this world would be a much better place.

We tend to be repetitive, say things over and over again, be redundant because originality is always in short supply and there is nothing new under the sun. Words are oral farts full of sound and fury signifying nothing or at best, or worst, pollution. Of course, my own words do not escape this predicament.

God! what is that smell?! I gotta get outta here!