(Because someone linked to this thread and I saw my name taken in vain...)
Ganesh seems to have heard it all and adds insult to every post he makes.
Despite my flippancy, Morpheus, I actually tried three or four times within the 'countdown' thread to help you understand why your mode of presentation was alienating people, and I asked you to clarify your expectations of the discussion itself. I did this on pages 1, 2 and 5, before giving up and going for pure silliness instead.
I hadn't "heard it all" already but I'd heard a lot of the stuff you seemed to think was news - possibly because I'm not dependent on the Fox Network, but read the Guardian (source of at least one of your links) more or less daily and have an active interest in the Project for the New American Century stuff. Similar ground has been covered on Barbelith before, in a considerably more focussed way, so I know I'm not the only poster who found your dooooom-laden utterances less than revelatory.
This wouldn't necessarily have been a problem were it not for the manner in which you delivered those utterances. From the outset things were somewhat 'fuzzy' (with an apparent conflation/confusion of global news and "psychic twinges") but, when Ibis politely corrected your misunderstanding of the term "nuclear option", you responded with ridiculously bad grace, generalising your snarkiness to "all" of us stuck in a world of backing up our gut instincts with actual evidence. This was depressingly familiar (we're well used to oracular types with 'differently-permeable' reality filters lambasting us all for prioritising fact over uninformed opinion or intuition) and, given your slightly patronising "which fucking side are you on" mantra, it's not terribly surprising things deteriorated sharply thereafter.
I did try, though, believe me. I tried to explain to you why your fellow posters weren't reacting to your pronouncements with shock, and I pushed you to clarify what sort of response would have been acceptable. Although you describe yourself as passionate on this subject, you clearly didn't want actual debate: this was evidenced not merely by your snarling at those who corrected or challenged you even slightly, but also your non-engagement with those who attempted to progress the discussion (as you failed to engage with Tom, a post or two above, when he said something that conflicted with your view of things). You maintained a sneerily dismissive attitude throughout, and it seemed to me that it was more important to you to set yourself apart from (those you deemed to be) The Apathetic Masses than to engage constructively with equals. Haus's Passion of the Bee-Man anecdote illustrates this with beautiful economy.
I'm telling you all this, Morpheus, because I'd like you to know why I'm merrily rotting your thread with discussion of vampire cakes and polar bears swimming in blood. However, I remain pessimistic about the likelihood of your actually understanding. |
