Ratings

[primitive]

Jack,
It seems like one of us don't understand the meaning of the word sarcasm. So I looked it up for you (dictionary.com):
1: A cutting, often ironic remark intended to wound.
2: A form of wit that is marked by the use of sarcastic language and is intended to make its victim the butt of contempt or ridicule.
3: The use of sarcasm. See Synonyms at "wit"

It really worries me when some people can't see the difference between life and death of real people (as discussed in the Iraq thread), and the shifting of some bits in the computer memory.

[Jack Simth]

Originally posted by primitive:
It really worries me when some people can't see the difference between life and death of real people (as discussed in the Iraq thread), and the shifting of some bits in the computer memory.

I don't believe Aloofi ever once said he did anything - all he did was post a picure - just "the shifting of some bits in the computer memory" as you put it. Sure, people's deaths were under discussion, but Aloofi wasn't referring to them at the time; lots of people were posting pictures, some of which depiced people about to be thrown off buildings. Nobody seems to have objected to those. Likewise, nobody objected when the image of an anti-tank weapon was posted, and those do far more damage than a single handgun. Yet you bash Aloofi. Why?

[Gryphin]

Come on guys,
How different would this conversation be if tone inflection and body language could be read?

[Taz-in-Space]

Taz dares anyone to rate him! Go ahead: I DOUBLE dares Ya!

Oh, yea. I 'ate' my stars. Join the club and TURN OFF those darn nasty stars...

...Why? Because Taz is tired of SEEING STARS!!

[primitive]

Jack:
I am sure Aloofi can speak for himself, he has always come across as quite an eloquent young (?) man. If he wants to discus this, I will do it with him (either in public or by PM).

If you can’t see the difference between those pictures/Posts, then it’s your loss, not mine.

[Fyron]

Woohoo! Someone took the heat off of me!

[Aloofi]

Originally posted by primitive:
Great, A thread that have turned into Aloofi-bashing. I want a piece of that

Aloofi:
When you put that picture of a gun with a smiley beside it in the Iraq thread, you proved once and for all to be an insensitive b...
I asked you to remove it, which you didn't, so it can not be just a slip of mind.

If it still was possible I would have rated you a 1, not because of your opinions, but because of your attitude.

Ok, I'm back now. Sorry I couldn't continue the discussion yesterday.
About that gun, please I would like to see a link to that post if possible, cause I don't recall posting a gun in an offensive way, though I don't doubt I might have posted a gun, since I don't oppose war by itself, but I opposse wars that i believe are being fought for the benefit of the greed of a few.
I remember quite clear though, that I posted some graphic pictures of dead soldiers that Geo edited out changing them for a link.
I'm not denying that I may have posted a gun, what I'm saying is that its more likely I posted that gun to show something politically incorrect that have been played down by the media or something alone those lines.

.

[Aloofi]

Originally posted by Aloofi:
, since I don't oppose war by itself, but I opposse wars that i believe are being fought for the benefit of the greed of a few.

.

By this I mean that I see 2 kinds of wars.
1- Just wars (self-defense)
2- Injust wars (Unprovoked/greed motivated/imperialist agression)

I'm clarifiying so I don't get called a warmonger, which I am not. I do agree that wars are evil by itself, but when you are attacked there is little choice.

.

[Aloofi]

Originally posted by Jack Simth:
Yet you bash Aloofi. Why?

The first thing that comes to my mind is because of my nationality. In off-line life I have found people to be far friendlier to me as long as they don't know from where I am, and I guess its the same way Online. I blame that on the bad coverage Israel gets on the media worldwide, and how Palestinian drive-by-shootings and suicide attacks on civilians are justified as a result of "opression". I think this anti-israeli propaganda works in a subconcious level and make people to have bad prejudices of anything Israeli.

Now, I'm not saying this is why.
I'm just posting my thoughts on this matter, I don't claim to know what is going on in other people minds, nor I'm using this to justify any wrongdoing I may have done.

Man, should I add a disclaimer to my signature?

[Loser]

Originally posted by Gryphin:
Come on guys,
How different would this conversation be if tone inflection and body language could be read?

It is my belief that communication of text-only or even voice-only nature lends itself to dehumanization more easily than face-to-face conversation.

This is not to say that I haven't seen face-to-face debates of certain matters (religion, politics, how to raise one's children) turn into aggressive, physical conflicts, but that the attitudes that lead to these sort of conflicts come much easier when we cannot see, and perhaps smell, each other.

I worked in a call center for several years, and found that people on the phone were more likely to get angry, irritated, or condescending than they were in person. It is only worse in text.

The truly frightening part of this is what happens to children who experience social interaction only though inhuman means such as these. I have met some kids raised on the BBS, and while they might be eloquent, convincing, and confident in text and chat, most of them are troublingly deficient in real world interpersonal relationships. (Most, don't take this personally unless you feel this applies to you.)

If this does cause a problem, what of TV. Do actors correctly portray proper body language in all situations? Do they react to stimulus naturally? I am certain the answer is no to both.

Perhaps those of us raised on television are all distanced from true humanity by being surrounded by false or forced drama while we grew up. Perhaps this is the reason so many people express their lives in such dramatic terms, and resort to dramatic levels of emotion so easily. We live as we were taught and we were taught by television, where drama and inappropriate reactions are scripted in for entertainment value. Perhaps this has not been noticed because it affect some more than others, and the mostly unaffected majority cannot see what is 'wrong' with themselves.

But would this not be true of other media: what of books. Think of the people you knew while growing up who always had a book with them. Would not the artificial situations, expression, and reactions in any form of fiction teach children to dramatize their lives? Do not the bookish, escapist, drama-club-types describe their own lives in excessively melodramatic terms? Surely the answer to both is yes.

But we cannot live a life without fiction, without escape: I certainly won't. Surely it must be a matter of proportion. If a growing mind spends enough time in the real world, they will react to real world stimuli in an appropriate, real world manner.

This is terribly off topic, and even off the off-topic topic, but the words just seemed to line up in my mind, ready for the keyboard. It seems I am inspired. Inspired to make a fool of myself.