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- From: hoosiers@carson.u.washington.edu (Mary Loveless)
- Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
- Subject: Re: Project B.F.D. (was: An apology)
- Message-ID: <1992Dec21.181401.6123@u.washington.edu>
- Date: 21 Dec 92 18:14:01 GMT
- References: <18DEC92.01304939@vax.clarku.edu> <1992Dec20.052730.1343@eff.org> <2gdrs2d@lynx.unm.edu>
- Sender: news@u.washington.edu (USENET News System)
- Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
- Lines: 42
-
- In article <2gdrs2d@lynx.unm.edu> rsquires@cyclops.eece.unm.edu (Roger
- Squires) writes:
- >> mnemonic@eff.org (Mike Godwin) writes:
- >>I can't speak for every case (and, yes, I've run into several of these
- >>folks myself), but it seems to me that lots of folks are very easily
- >>intimidated. They're not used to having their opinions exposed to the kind
- >>of quick and seemingly ruthless critique that Usenet provides. I agree
- >>very much that oldtimers should take reasonable steps to make newcomers
- >>feel welcome, but they're cheating the newcomers if they soften their
- >>opinions in order to preserve the latter's good feelings.
-
- Mike
-
- > Similar charges of persecution are to be seen on talk.origins
- > between creationists and old-timer evolutionists, and there,
- > as here, it's pretty bogus.
- >rms
-
- "Persecution" seems a strong term to this pushy newcomer. I think those
- who have posted in this thread have valid things to say. I think that
- those who respond to a post should cultivate a certain amount of
- self-awareness. To those who drive a mental bulldozer but think of it as
- a sporty vintage car, and to those who who assume the mental vehicle is
- fragile and likely to break down in heavy traffic, when it actually
- accelerates beautifully and could survive a serious collision, I say:
- Look at what you really have, in terms of thinking power, knowledge and
- background and celebrate it, don't use it as a weapon. A volley ball,
- though.......?
-
- And, this to me as much as any other, remember there is a person, not a
- target, on the other end of the exchange. I mean, I owe Mikhail Zeleny a
- sincere apology for my posted announcement that he had been possessed by
- the spirit of Isaac Asimov, recently deceased author of _The Sensuous
- Dirty Old Man_ (as well as many hundreds of books on other topics).
-
- Mary Loveless hoosiers@carson.u.washington.edu
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- All of my opinions are self-righteously my own and **certainly** have
- nothing to do with the University of Washington.
-
- "I wonder how I'd look in *Madonna's* underwear." Zippy the Pinhead
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-