NCR suspends comments on website: Another sad demonstration of John Gabriel's 'Dickwad Theory of the Internet'.
Alas, here's another example to prove that John Gabriel was right in formulating his 'Dickwad Theory' of the Internet which goes as follows:
'Normal Person + Anonymity + Audience = a Dickwad'
This is something I've never really understood since I was raised to believe that civility is a requirement in any discussion/debate/conversation and that offensive invective and insults are never appropriate. I guess not everyone was raised with such an understanding of what's appropriate or not.
This is also the reason why I always post under my real name, no matter what the site or forum. Comments offered under the guise of anonymity are no different to me than an unsigned letter. If you're not willing to put your name to what you write, then (as a general rule and IMHO) there is little reason to bother reading what you have to say. Thankfully there are exceptions (folks like Rationalist, Deep Diver etc. who post here are good examples) - but these are the exceptions that seem to prove the rule! It is indeed a sad state of affairs though when sites need to close their comment threads because of trolls who use them to do nothing more than insult others and their beliefs.
Fr. Tim
NCR suspends comments on website | National Catholic Reporter
'Normal Person + Anonymity + Audience = a Dickwad'
This is something I've never really understood since I was raised to believe that civility is a requirement in any discussion/debate/conversation and that offensive invective and insults are never appropriate. I guess not everyone was raised with such an understanding of what's appropriate or not.
This is also the reason why I always post under my real name, no matter what the site or forum. Comments offered under the guise of anonymity are no different to me than an unsigned letter. If you're not willing to put your name to what you write, then (as a general rule and IMHO) there is little reason to bother reading what you have to say. Thankfully there are exceptions (folks like Rationalist, Deep Diver etc. who post here are good examples) - but these are the exceptions that seem to prove the rule! It is indeed a sad state of affairs though when sites need to close their comment threads because of trolls who use them to do nothing more than insult others and their beliefs.
Fr. Tim
NCR suspends comments on website | National Catholic Reporter
Of primary importance is civility. Without it why bother interacting with other people.
ReplyDeleteI find that if you care about a position and are posting as a "dickwad" it just invalidates your position and re-inforces the opinion of those who disagree with you.
Thank you Fr. Tim