Once in a linguistics lecture, the professor was explaining that in some languages, like English, it is improper to use a double negative, as it could be misconstrued as a positive. For example, "Don't give me no pickles on my hamburger," might result in no pickles -- or it could result in pickles. However, in some languages, like Spanish, a double negative is proper, and not repeating the negative as in the above example could result in confusion. Then, with some satisfaction, he said "At least there is no language where a double positive results in a negative." At that, a voice spoke up from the back of the classroom, contradicting him with a sarcastic "Yeah! Right!" Could someone tell me if a bigger traffic bottleneck is better or worse than a smaller one? Or are they both worse? In email communications, we lack the ability to hear the tone of voice or see the face of the writer. Sometimes we insert little "emoticons" like :-( :-) >:-( :-)) :-O or something to give a clue, but often those aren't used, either. This can make communications difficult when we don't know the writer, and make false assumptions about his or her attitude. For example, I was surprised recently to learn that a dear brother in the Lord totally misunderstood something I wrote. I wrote "I am waiting patiently for an answer," and he read it as having a sarcastic tone that I never intended (thus reading exactly the opposite of what the words literally say). I meant it literally. When I saw the response to my email, I decided not to try to answer with email again, but over the telephone, so he could hear my voice. It worked much better. As I have seen email discussions in both Christian and secular areas, I have noticed some tendencies towards "flame wars" that can start way too easily. First, there is a curious tendency to not react in writing to particularly good posts. A really good posting might get a request for permission to reprint it in a newsletter or a complement, but most people read it, possibly use it with their outposts, smile, and go on. The flip side of this is that there is a piranha-like tendency to attack when someone says something outrageous, offensive, controversial, or wrong -- even if the comment is merely misread by many. On a mailing list, this can be overwhelming, especially the first time someone commits a net faux pas. On the other hand, there are some people who actually do this on purpose to get people angry and get attention, especially on nonchristian mailing lists and Usenet news groups. With all of the above hazards, why do we even bother with stuff like RangerNet? Because most of the time, we get to share in enjoyable fellowship with people who have a common interest, like reaching, teaching, and keeping boys and girls for Jesus Christ. We can share devotions, lesson plan ideas, games, and more. We can discuss the Bible as it applies to our outposts and lives. We can get feedback and support from others who may have a little more wisdom in a problem area. We can discuss new ideas in a mostly nonthreatening environment. We have a forum here in which all Royal Rangers, Commanders, and others interested in Royal Rangers can speak and be heard. It isn't "official" nor is it controlled very tightly by anyone, but often times official news gets repeated here. It is also true that sometimes someone blows off some steam. As long as it is done in love and in accordance with the Royal Ranger code, that is OK, although some of this may have contributed to RangerNet's bad reputation among a few people. There is not much control is exercised here, but there is some. Twice in the history of RangerNet, someone has been kicked off of the list for bad conduct. (If you are reading this, it wasn't you.) Don't assume, however, that if you got kicked off of the mailing list that it was for bad conduct, unless you were told so. This is because several email addresses are removed from RangerNet every day for bounced mail, and several addresses are added back again by people resubscribing themselves. If your mailbox size exceeds its quota or several other possible things, some of which may be temporary, this happens. Just clear out your inbox on your ISP, and resubscribe yourself at http://rangernet.org/subscribe.htm or use the majordomo email interface to resubscribe yourself. For the most part, what we do to keep the conversation civil is keep the Royal Ranger code. We also post the FAQ and the "Rhinoceros Hide" document periodically in hopes of setting the tone. You have read them, right? Michael Paul Johnson aka Soaring Golden Eagle PO Box 1151, Longmont CO 80502-1151, USA Rocky Mountain outpost 207, New Creation Church Jesus Christ is Lord! _______ To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe rangernet" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Eat the hay & spit out the sticks! - A#1's mule" RTKB&G4JC! http://rangernet.org Autoresponder: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
