RE: Re: Topic for discussion: getting along

From: debadger <debadger_at_pacbell.net_at_hypermail.org>
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 22:22:11 -0700

A civil discussion is certainly a start - passion and enthusiasm are
important but so is civility. And so few people seem to have realized that
civil does NOT mean servile. And it's hard to have a verbal discussion now a
days - many people we like to converse with live in different time zones
from us.

It's interesting too how seeing an opposing viewpoint _in print_ seems to
bring out the absolute worst in people. You know how in a face-to-face
discussion people usually don't jump to the worst possible way to construe a
disagreement? Yet in e-groups almost anything can start a full blown flame
war. I wonder if it's a subconcious feeling that anything seen in print has
more weight than the spoken word. We're taught in school to 'look up the
truth', and only later do we realize that even a science text can be wrong,
mistaken or only partially correct. Yet there's still that gut feeling that
'they wouldn't print it if it wasn't true' so when someone sees a
disagreement 'in print' it feels like a wieghtier blow than a mere verbal
disagreement.

Elena

...
Dennis Prager. Shame I can't listen to him any more. He's on at 9 am
and was very civil to everyone, regardless of the topic or vehemence.
...

I like listening to opposing viewpoints. It challenges my own and I
have to pull back and ask why I think that way. Sometimes it changes
my opinion, and sometimes it reinforces it.

--G.H.
Received on 2004-06-30 22:15:48