Hello all --
I dropped off the FutureWork list a couple of years ago, not only
because Harry was trolling [1] the list, trying to provoke
opportunities for his condescending barbs and his
free-market-cures-all polemics but as well because all the other
bright folks on the list were politely responding to him as if his
posts were mature and sensible contributions and his jibes and
provocations were unintentional oversights.
I quite missed the dialog so now I've subscribed again and, oh dear,
oh dear, what do I find? That Harry is still trolling for arguments,
intentionally provoking them and pointlessly prolonging them. It's a
bit reassuring that others are no longer tolerating his provocations
with good grace in the interest of decorum. On the other hand,
allowing the list discourse to degenerate into the kind of shouting
match that makes Harry feel righteous and important is not a big win,
either.
I would hesitate to suggest that the list owner(s) bar Harry from the
list but perhaps it would be constructive to simply ignore all of his
posts that are devoid of redeeming value or which serve chiefly as a
launching platform for his belligerent rhetoric. Harry's skill is
an ability to be so irritating that one feels compelled to respond.
Suppressing that compulsion might improve the FW conversation.
- Mike
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[1] On the off chance that you haven't encountered the term "troll"
in a net context, here's a snippet from Wikipedia :
In Internet terminology, a troll is someone who intentionally
posts derogatory or otherwise inflammatory messages about
sensitive topics in an established online community such as an
online discussion forum to bait users into responding. They
may also plant images and data...in order to cause
confrontation.
[...]
The contemporary use of the term first appeared on Usenet
groups in the late 1980s. It is widely thought to be a
truncation of the phrase "trolling for suckers", itself derived
from the sport fishing technique of trolling.
--
Michael Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada .~.
/V\
[EMAIL PROTECTED] /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/ ^^-^^
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