The Golden Rule

[RJ HEDLEY]

  I have always tried to live by The Golden Rule,  most days I succeed. I find that being polite and considerate of others is a much easier life style to support.  In real life,  it minimizes a lot of stress.

 So having said that, I must wonder what it is about *Discussion Boards*,  that brings out those argumentive Posters,  whose main goal seems to be driving others to ANGER ?

 I think it is the Anonymity, it is a shield and gives false courage.   I have a mental picture of a Jerk hovering over his monitor, clicking the "refresh button",  gleefully anticipating the next response.

 "Moma" would be mad at me today,  she always told me, "If you can't say somethin' nice, don't say nothin' at all."   But I thing she would give me some "slack" in this case.

 

[DDGator]

I believe you are correct.  It is the anonymity, not only in not knowing the exact identity of the person you are talking to, but also the lack of real-time, face to face interaction.  I know a lot of educated professionals who will take your head off in a letter, but are very reasonable to talk to on the phone or in person.  

The fact that your entire identity can be hidden just makes it worse.  Someone can "misbehave" without any real consequences.  We all have urges (or at least I do) to stir things up on occasion, but our sense of community and social mores keeps that in check.  Trolls and other trouble-makers delight in creating a stir, knowing that there are virtually NO significant consequences.  You get thrown off the board -- big deal.  Things get too hot, you try and come back with a different name or move on to greener pastures.

Its a bit sociopathic -- to get your kicks off of provoking and annoying other people.  Its the modern day "cyber-bully."

[BillinPittsburgh]

Add to this the fact that a username can become something of an alter-ego, where someone can pretend to be that which they are not.

I see we had our first Virtual Tough Guy (has all kinds of extensive but vague and unverifialbe training and/or experience and therefore is the expert on all things) before I joined.

[saltydog452]

Running up and down the highways, that kind of conversation is called 'c b radio karate'..

[gunner930]

 We all get frustrated but boy does RJ have it right, being friendly and courteous to other people does relieve stress. Simply being on here and engaging in good conversation is a great stress reliever.
 Saltydog, you mentioned the CB radio. Are you a big rig driver? I have alot of respect for that occupation. Its a major part in the backbone of our country. Like on here, good conversation on the CB has made some tiring drives go faster for me when traveling.

[shelb]

RJ,
I think you have made a very good point about the anonymity, and I thank you.

Perhaps the best approach to take towards someone who is crass is to simply ignore them.  I feel like I owe everyone here an apology for my role in the events last night.  By making a provoking remark towards an individual for what I percieved to be rude behavior, I lowered myself to their level.  As a result, a useful thread was hijacked and locked  

[Richard S]

The preceding comments are excellent.  And, Shelb, you have nothing for which to apologize.

Thank you, Chris, for running a tight ship.

RS

[Richard S]

Errata.

I apologize, Duane.  It's you who runs the tight ship.  I posted the previous comment in the middle of trying to arrange for some 147 gr. Golden Sabers to be sent to Chris for his next testing session.    "Brain fade," as Richard Petty might say . . . .

(I obviously need a stiff drink and a good night's sleep.)

RS

[BillinPittsburgh]

Hi Shelb,

While a good point was made above about the Golden Rule and while you are correct that ignoring a troll can often be a good way to get them to go away, I don't think you were in the wrong at all.

This forum and the NAA forum share a lot of common members.  That forum has been very lucky not to have many trolls given the number of members.  This forum has had a few maybe due to the recent publicity of the Rohrbaugh, but it seems that the people who can most appreciate high-end pocket pistols - NAA's or Rohrbaugh's - are generally intelligent in more ways than one.

However, those who know me on the NAA forum have seen me be quick to get in the face of the few trolls who do show up, not in an angry response that will provoke more of the same, but in a manner that both points out the facts and forces them to demonstrate their own stupidity.  Some of you effectively used the same technique when the Virtual Tough Guy was talking about wearing bulletproof vests all the time, his dangerousness with his one finger, etc.  It works.

[Stook]

As one who generally sits on the sidelines and reads (listens) to gain information, I whole heartedly agree with RJ and the others.  I have commented on my thought on this issue to him privately in emails, but I'll share a restated version of advice I have received over the years "Don't get into a fight with a skunk, because when its over no one will know who won".  (And this isn't referring to anyone as a skunk, just an old bit of backwoods advice.)