RedMagic1
Posts: 6470
Joined: 5/10/2007 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: JstAnotherSub i think this may have started off as a way for some to vent frustrations about others who do not play according to the rules they feel should rule. at some point, to me anyhow, it went from that, to reminding me of the so called cool kids making fun of the retarded kid til the retarded kid ran out of the gym and cried in the bathroom. i ran to comfort her in the bathroom, and i wish i could hug some unnamed poster, rather than watch him be humiliated. i agree with whoever posted that it is amazing some one can manipulate supposedly more intelligent people to the point this thread was needed. This analysis seems spot on to me. The belief, "If I don't point out how idiotic poster X's statements are, someone might believe them," is, frankly, a rationalization of an intellectual bully. If X's statements really are idiotic, everyone will notice. You only elevate those statements if you act as though they are at a level where they even deserve to be challenged. I'm reminded of chess players I know who enjoy playing someone much weaker than they are. Their win ratio will be 99% in these matches, but of course they never learn anything, and never improve. Their objective is insta-ego boost. It's a sign of insecurity. Since the OP of the thread is a fitness professional, I'll try to explain this using an example from the gym. I use a rowing machine several days a week. Sometimes, I'm there alone. Other times, there's someone with a much faster stroke sitting next to me. Yet other times, there's someone with a much slower stroke. In all three of those situations, I need to maintain the stroke that is right for me, instead of following the stroke of another. In rhetoric, this is now termed "Staying on message." An anthropological point: there are two groupings of people I have seen who seem most easily distracted by trollish behavior on the internet. These groups are physically imposing dominant men, and women in the business world who have never had children. Why? The men are used to controlling real-life conversations with a glare, and they need to learn brand new social skills when on the internet. The women have pushed themselves to be aggressive, but never learned how to say, or think, "adults talking," and just continue with their business as though nothing had occurred. Adults talking. Stay on message. Maintain your own stroke. Problem solved.
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Not with envy, not with a twisted heart, shall you feel superior, or go about boasting. Rather in goodness by action make true your song and your word. Thus you shall be highly regarded, and able to live in peace with all others. - 15th century Aztec
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