I know I’m not moderator, but I’d like to comment on the general state of our discussions here:
One of the things that has become rampant on internet forums and such is the tendency toward negativity. Raise any subject on line and the “haters” come out of the woodwork, leading not to discussions, but out-and-out arguments. In my opinion, such arguments make miserable reading, so I don’t go to a lot of locations on the internet.
Historically, I have not seen a lot of that negativity here, but lately it seems to be creeping into some of our threads. One subject that tends to bring out the negativity is any mention at all of General Motors or the new Corvette. Some people, for whatever reason (and there are plenty of reasons) just hate GM and anything it does, or did. Much of that vitriol is probably deserved, but, candidly, I worked for that company for many years and while working there I heard enough complaints to last a lifetime, so, I don’t need to see variations on that theme rehashed here.
That’s just one example though, and there is at least one other thread here today where negativity abounds. In that regard, remember that very, very few of our subjects are absolute, so there is room for opinion on both sides, without having to gain the upper hand in the discussion. Of course, everyone has issues they feel strongly about, but, advocacy has its limits, and those limits should be set at the point where your belief in a particular “truth” starts to be offensive to others. There are places for that extreme advocacy, this is just not one of them. Sometime or another, everyone is wrong, they don’t need to be debased for it here.
I’d just like to ask everyone here to comment with respect for other posters and not assume this is a battle to be won or lost in print. Part of the NCRS motto is “friends”, we should do our best to keep it that way.
Thanks for listening,
One of the things that has become rampant on internet forums and such is the tendency toward negativity. Raise any subject on line and the “haters” come out of the woodwork, leading not to discussions, but out-and-out arguments. In my opinion, such arguments make miserable reading, so I don’t go to a lot of locations on the internet.
Historically, I have not seen a lot of that negativity here, but lately it seems to be creeping into some of our threads. One subject that tends to bring out the negativity is any mention at all of General Motors or the new Corvette. Some people, for whatever reason (and there are plenty of reasons) just hate GM and anything it does, or did. Much of that vitriol is probably deserved, but, candidly, I worked for that company for many years and while working there I heard enough complaints to last a lifetime, so, I don’t need to see variations on that theme rehashed here.
That’s just one example though, and there is at least one other thread here today where negativity abounds. In that regard, remember that very, very few of our subjects are absolute, so there is room for opinion on both sides, without having to gain the upper hand in the discussion. Of course, everyone has issues they feel strongly about, but, advocacy has its limits, and those limits should be set at the point where your belief in a particular “truth” starts to be offensive to others. There are places for that extreme advocacy, this is just not one of them. Sometime or another, everyone is wrong, they don’t need to be debased for it here.
I’d just like to ask everyone here to comment with respect for other posters and not assume this is a battle to be won or lost in print. Part of the NCRS motto is “friends”, we should do our best to keep it that way.
Thanks for listening,
but at least you tried.
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