Posted by Dinah on July 2, 2009, at 0:02:14
In reply to Re: block avoidance, posted by Dr. Bob on July 1, 2009, at 23:39:57
> > Or maybe people are afraid of being hurt themselves if they put themselves out that way.
> >
> > Dinah
>
> > We don't have immunity if we try to help a poster not get blocked and it blows up in our face
>
> That's an interesting point, should there be more tolerance of incivility if it's to try to help another poster not get blocked?To be clear, I didn't mean afraid of getting into trouble with administration. There are other ways of being hurt on Babble than by Admin.
And IMO, allowing incivility so that people can help others not get blocked is a) not necessarily the best route to changing someone's POV, and b) not necessarily conducive to board harmony. I think people have been trying to do as you ask on Admin lately, and I see troubles inherent in that as well. I think it's great that more education be given if you are trying to encourage new behaviors, so if that's what you mean by tolerance, then that could be sensible.
> If the goal is fewer blocks, two alternative strategies are:
>
> 1. Try to convince me to change my behavior (stop blocking, change the formula, etc).
>
> 2. Try to convince other posters to change their behavior (interpret things more charitably, apologize, rephrase, refrain from addressing those they can't get along with, etc).
>
> Which is more likely to lead to feeling powerless? Which is more likely to lead to the goal?
>
> BobWould it shock you horribly if I admitted that I thought neither was more likely to lead to feeling powerless than the other? Our power with any other person is limited. It's not just you. I think it's more that we all have more experience watching and experiencing the powerlessness involved in trying to influence *you*. But the only person we really have any possibility of exerting power over is ourselves. We can encourage other posters, just as we encourage you, but to hope overmuch in being successful is to open ourselves to pain and frustration.
I would hope that there is more than one path to a goal. I recognize that at this moment you may wish to concentrate on *this* path, but I hope that over time, you are open to exploring other paths as well?
Might it also be worthwhile to consider the limits of power as well as the having of power? Sort of a realistic and pragmatic view of power. You wish for people to recognize the power and responsibility they have. But responsibility needs to be limited to where power lies, just as power needs to be limited to where responsibility lies.
poster:Dinah
thread:900430
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20090529/msgs/904389.html