Posted by Dr. Bob on April 19, 2009, at 20:46:41
In reply to Re: an opportunity, posted by Sigismund on April 18, 2009, at 18:14:54
> Hopefully you will grow to accept us.
>
> FayeroeI understand that posters may want to feel accepted by me. I do accept all posters, but I think it's unlikely that I'll grow to accept uncivil posts. Is not blocking posters the way for me to show I accept them?
> the captain ... seems to go missing from time to time.....noone on his boat knows where he goes? ... I bet sometimes your crew would like to know where the heck you are when storms arise...
>
> MI understand wanting a captain, especially in a storm. I'm sorry I've left you all to weather some previous storms by yourselves. But I'm here now. But a captain can't do much by himself.
> > The point of this site is for posters to support each other. It seems to me a straightforward way of supporting each other would be to help each other avoid being blocked.
>
> #2 doesn't logically follow. It only works when you assume everyone fundamentally agrees with the policies being enforced. When that isn't the case, it may feel to posters as if they're facing a common dilemma of the powerless
>
> I think the problem with the logic here is that helping you enforce your policies is not "supporting" those who run afoul of them. Empathy, communication, reassurance, and checking in on other posters is what constitutes support. Looks like we are all doing that all the time, which is why I love Babble.
>
> I think we're all looking for the same thing here--fewer missing loved ones and a safer Babble (since I don't know what's in your head, I am assuming a charitable interpretation). ... I do think individual posters need to take responsibility for their own actions.
>
> raisinbYou're right, supporting someone who runs afoul of my policies by helping them avoid a block afterwards doesn't help me enforce those policies. Helping them not run afoul of them in the first place would, but helping them avoid a block afterwards just means one fewer missing loved one.
I'm glad you feel supported and love it here. Thanks for believing that I'd also like fewer blocked posters and a safer Babble.
> greater power=greater responsibility. Turning the responsibility for resolving a conflict over to the less powerful--while retaining the power--is, as I said, a highly fishy move.
>
> raisinb> I can't stand the carnage. I used to try and shoot back at the policy boat, but then there was more fighting.
> Me, I need a more peaceful place.
>
> Mebbe we snarl some, or send a mate off to their cabin to cool down for a bit, but thats bout it.
>
> M> If someone writes to me and asks my opinion about a post I will give it. But people I don't know well, and people I do as well, are not going to take kindly to me saying 'I think you should do this', as if I really know anyway.
>
> There is a very limited influence we have on each other at any one time.
>
> SigismundMebbe I snarl some, or send posters off to their cabins to cool down for a bit, or longer, but that's about it.
I wonder if some posters may be attached (not by choice, of course) to feelings of powerlessness. Maybe the idea that they actually have some power is what seems fishy.
Empathy, communication, reassurance, and checking in give you influence (a form of power). As Sigismund said before, there are different ways of negotiating a response in such a way as to make it possible. I thought posters helped influence Verne to apologize, and I'm glad he's still on the boat. More shooting means less peace. More apologies means fewer blocks and more peace.
> I felt I had to point out that Dr. Bob called us a herd. I don't think that is civil yet he did not rephrase it like he asks us all the time. To rephrase, to be civil. I am not a cow or a horse or any other animal that is part of a herd. With all my issues, I would freak out in a herd.
>
> rskSorry, I didn't mean to imply that anyone was a cow or a horse or anything like that. Mob mentality came up, and it's a form of herd behavior, which can refer to the behavior of people as well as animals:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_behavior
The "herd" here seems to be willing to let Fayeroe fall overboard. But maybe people are trying to support her behind the scenes. I hope so.
Bob
poster:Dr. Bob
thread:888433
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20090302/msgs/891689.html