Well, I just got back from my first day at my new job to a mass of messages the likes of which I've rarely seen.
There's a lot of talk about free speech. You know what I don't understand? Why does free speech mean it's OK to act like you're not a member of a civilization? How can one quote IAAMOAC, when one clearly doesn't care if his actions belie his desire to act civilized? If you are cussing like a $10 crack whore, and angering the people with whom you are a part of that civilization with no regard for how they feel, doesn't that mean you are not meeting up to its ideals? And if you are not, is it fair to ask them to give you the same courtesy? And when people speak of intolerance, but subtly jab certain listmembers repeatedly because their e-mails "inconvenience" them, well, it just makes me laugh. The Mark thing...well, I've seen a lot of theories. He's got something wrong with his mind, it's performance art, he's trolling, etc. I'm not really sure what the answer is, folks. But I will say this: It sure as heck looks to me like he's trying to see how far he can push the list. The wackiness that showed up in his vast sea of posts has been supplemented by vulgar posts about ejaculation and masturbation. And it certainly looks like he has stepped up the profanity in the past day. All of this is odd in its timing, wouldn't you say? It seems to me that Mark is testing the limits of everyone's patience. Some of his posts indicate that he relishes the disruption he has created to boot (Yes, I have been skimming his messages, despite my prior griping). Considering that conclusion, it certainly seems to me that Mark is not following those nebulous guidelines we have about civilization. There is, of course, no guarantee that my conjecture is correct. But if it is, then it's clear that he doesn't deserve to be extended the courtesies of the list. If it's performance art, I don't find it interesting, but I see that a few of us do. And if it's mental illness, he should get some help, but a bunch of list members telling him so isn't going to make it happen. If a person is actively trying to be disruptive, does he deserve the normal IAAMOAC courtesies that we feel to extend to other listees who actually follow the Brin-L mantra, even ones we may not like? Jim ------------------------------------------------ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web!
