I said this in a PM to Z2C, and I figured I'll say it here..
When expressing opinions, state your opinion and leave it at that. People will reply to your opinion. Let them. People will rip your opinion. Let them. The more you feed those that rip into your opinion, the more ammo you give them.
Let.
It.
Be.
We all are guilty of this. We all have to have the last say. That mentality has to stop, or you'll ALWAYS have arguments and flame wars. We all wonder how everything turns into a Favre vs. Ted/Mike.. That's how. We keep feeding the fire with our posts.
TIP: You don't have to have the last word/post in order to 'win' the disagreement.
In short.. DON'T FEED THE EFFING TROLLS!
"Formo" wrote:
Very good point, Formo. +1
All of us like to argue. All of us like to converse. But the two are not synonymous. The person who always has to have the last word, who always has to "win", may be a good "debater," but he/she is not a particularly good conversationalist. In fact, when it comes to conversation, such a person is generally a bore.
Among the things I like about PH is that this is, by and large, a place of conversations not of arguments. Oh, to be sure, each of us have hot buttons that set us off, make us argumentative and dig in for a war of attrition ("Favre" and "Thompson" for some; "offensive line" and, usually, "sideline reporters" for yours truly). And some of us have specific people who tend to hit hot buttons, too. But by and large this place is a place where people don't always have to get the last word, where it's much less about winning and much more about having fun together.
One clear indicator of this is how people use "attacks"
ad hominem. People here call each other names. They remark on each others' character both in fun and in seriousness. But, at least in the three months I've been here, its rare that those remarks degenerate into the back and forth of bitterness and spite. And that shows both the maturity of those "conversing", and the wisdom of Zero and his staff.
I haven't posted as much as I might like, and I still haven't [strike]written[/strike] started the article I promised one of the (former) mods -- as for others, my "outside world" has been a bit out of control of late. But despite that outside world shit, and despite the occasional bit of flaming/trolling, I see this place very much as I saw it when dfosterf first told me about it -- a welcoming place for conversation.
FWIW....jolly good job!
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:2 (NKJV)