Over the past week or so, we seem to have had a rash of misunderstandings, misread intents inferred, misread comments, and just plain misstatements and the unpleasant retractions thus obliged. There’s been a lot of flared tempers and some name-calling. Most ungentlemanly. Not everyone is guilty of it, but I offer my own mea culpa: for a lot of reasons, none of them good, I’ve commented in a less-than-gentlemanly way to a new commenter on at least one occasion, which is not conduct that I would not encourage in others and of which I disapprove in myself. I dialed it back but really that’s not the sort of thing we ought to be about.
What’s strange is that something at least in this ballpark seems to be happening to so many Leaguesters all at once. I don’t particularly understand how that can be the case, but there it is. We strive for an intellectually challenging but cordial culture, and for some reason it seems we’ve fallen short of that aspiration this week. The lesson here may be, “Yo, stop and think long enough to let the adrenaline dissapate from behind your eyeballs before you get to typing.” Granted, I’ve ignored that advice myself in the (recent) past, but seems to me that it’s good to be reminded of that from time to time.
What’s strange is that something at least in this ballpark seems to be happening to so many Leaguesters all at once.
I was watching an episode of Numb3rs last night and the geek on that show (Charlie) made the point that randomness involves unlikely things happening in irregular clumps.
I’m not sure if that’s the case here, though, at least with regard to commenter-relations. We seem to have a lot of new commenters coming through. That is most inclined to bring out misunderstandings.Report
It’s true random events are subject to clustering. It’s a commonly-misunderstood feature of randomness.Report
I blame me.
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Yeah. I blame Pat.Report
I blame ObamaReport
Racist.Report
Marxist.Report
Sophist.Report
Take that back! That’s an outrage!
If you can go on the intertubes and call me names like that, then this country is doomed! This is the end of liberty!
Someone should drag your kind into camps. Good thing that your stooge Obama didn’t read his strategy for closing Guantanamo off a teleprompter somewhere…Report
I’m going to start talking about pizza right now because I have no way to respnd to you. You don’t hate pizza, do you? Anti-American, anti-Italian ungentleman.Report
You don’t hate pizza, do you? Anti-American, anti-Italian anti-Italian-American ungentleman.
Fixed it for you.Report
All Marxists are sophists, all the ones I’ve met, anyway.Report
But are all Sophists Marxists? More important, are all Sophia’s Marxists?Report
The rhetorical shortcomings shall be divided among the peasants.Report
awesomeReport
Rhetorical excesses, too.Report
This was indeed a result of my socialist policies.Report
My students always get a certain cabin fever at this time of year, even with the mild winter we are currently having in the north east. Limited day light, cold temps (in most places), and several holidays and the stresses they bring make this time of year tricky… for all of us.
Also, we had an abnormally long full moon recently. I don’t know how, but it seemed to burn bright for 3 or 4 nights.Report
It seems to me that things blow up here every month or so. New people, from both sides of the debate sometimes aren’t as polite as the regulars and they either go away after a couple of days, or after being asked to tone it down get the idea and start disagreeing in a courteous manner, morph into regulars. And as BSK said, there was a full moon.Report
Isn’t this the part of the year Tolkien called Winterfilth? I’m edgy and grumpy. I offer my apologies for my intemperateness.Report
Also, California doesn’t have any frickin’ snow, so those of us out West who usually work out the winter stress by plummeting down hills, can’t.Report
Skiing is as close any anyone will ever get to really flying. Not even parachuting comes close.Report
I would say that jumping out of a tall building counts for something.Report
BJ infiltrators!
I have evidence!Report