Dave:


Surprisingly, we agree on most of ALL of this!!!



However, do not consider myself a troll if my methods are simply different
than others are accustomed to either; neither do I think I am a troll if I
do not wish to the “standard operating procedure” which some newsgroup of
“good ole buddies” has adopted—secret handshakes, phrases, etc. I have
outgrown…



Although common decency and respect for the right of another to hold an
opinion, belief or view contrary to ones own is necessary—I don’t see these
exchanges—when composed of overly narrow methods of exchange and interaction
as being beneficial to any…



Warmest regards,

John

--
When Viagra fails to work--you are DOOMED!!!

"Dave Platt" wrote in message
...
| In article ,
| John Smith wrote:
|
| Do you feel anyone opening a discussion is a troll? Is there always a
| "troll" at the center of every discussion?
|
| No, not all discussions are trolls.
|
| Some of the things which tend to make me consider a posting to be a
| "troll" rather than a "discussion", are indications that the original
| poster isn't really interested in an honest discussion. Typical signs:
|
| - Poster shows up with a big dose of attitude on his/her shoulder.
| Phrases like "You people are all laughable idiots" (fairly common
| among spammers posting in the anti-spam newsgroups), or "Obviously,
| anybody who has a brain will agree that xxxx is true" are red flags.
|
| - Posters who respond to criticisms of their proposal by ignoring the
| technical validity of the criticisms, or by attacking the critic
| rather than the criticism (ad hominem responses), or by glossing
| over the criticisms without a serious response (hand-waving).
|
| - Posters who seem to fail to "think through" the consequences, and
| costs, of their own proposals and ideas.
|
| Is the only discussion without a
| "troll" one where no one has made a statement to open it--and
therefore--it
| is really a "silent discussion?"
|
| Is a "troll'less discussion" one where everyone agrees with you?
|
| No. A troll-less discussion is where everyone involved engages in an
| intellectually honest debate about the merits, disadvantages, and
| costs of the suggested ideas(s). There are plenty of such troll-less
| discussions, on USENET and elsewhere, where the debaters disagree
| quite strongly!
|
| Your accusing me of being a "troll" is, in my opinion, really "character
| assassination" on your part--although you cloak this knife in velvet, the
| gleem of its' blade is still seen...
|
| Well, here's a third-party opinion. It's free, take it for what it's
| worth to you.
|
| From where I sit, it seems to me that your style of proposal and
| debate are somewhere in the middle. They are not blatantly
| "troll-ish" (in the sense of someone who is posting purely for the joy
| of stirring up a fracas), but neither do they seem to be a completely
| serious attempt to discuss the actual merits of your ideas (as
| compared to the alternatives).
|
| The somewhat troll-flavored signs I observe: well, there's the rather
| inflammatory and biased declaration you made in the subject of "No
| progress in decades." I call this trollish, because it *presumes* the
| validity of the very idea that you are proposing (i.e. that a modular,
| card-based radio architecture is the best one) and because it
| ignores all of the progress that radio systems have made in other
| areas of implementation. It seemed more inflammatory than
| communicative.
|
| I also see your response to some of the criticisms posted (including
| my own) as somewhat trollish, because you seem to have responded to
| serious counters by either handwaving around them, or by condemning
| the poster's effort to respond to you (e.g. your comment that you
| "aren't looking for people who'll tell [you] why it won't work, you're
| looking for people who'll tell [you] why it will.")
|
| One of the essentials in any scientist (and, I think, in any good
| researcher or proponent) is intellectual honesty, including the
| ability and willingness to figure out the weaknesses and limitations
| of any theory or proposal, as well as the strengths. I think you'd
| find your proposals received rather better, if you showed more clearly
| that you were willing to think them out to this degree in advance of
| posting them, and were open to receiving honest criticism.
|
| --
| Dave Platt AE6EO
| Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
| I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
| boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!