I spend a lot of time seeking out and reading provocative blogs. Sometimes, rarely, I actually post a comment, when I feel like I might enjoy stirring the pot a little. It's fun watching people make fools of themselves, but most of the time I keep in mind the adage "Tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open one's mouth and dispel all doubt."
It seems that there are a lot of folks dispelling that doubt. No doubt I, too, dispel it more than I like. Certainly there are many hot button issues that have a lot of folks saying the same old things over and over again, but never adding clarity or new data. Repeating the same old arguments to the same old enemies, whose minds are just as closed as they always were, is the same old waste of time, but a lot of it is happening in a lot of places, with the same old results. None.
I think that Robert Heinlein had it right when he said something to the effect that we all know one horse is faster than another, but which one? Who's right?
He also said that "Sure, the game is rigged, but it's the only game in town, and you can't win if you don't play."
Of course, there's no rule that says you can't make up your own rules, only a rule that you can't force others to play by your rules. It takes a salesman or a diplomat to make that happen. Or a government with it's monopoly on force.
The same is true about opinions. Anyone can have any opinion or none on any given subject, and within laws or dictates applicable to them, express it, but the market of ideas is free to choose from all available opinions, and over the course of time, the market will choose the one that fits best. It might not be a solution, but it will prevail until a better fit is found for whatever the issue might be. Or until the issue is dead. A bad approach to a problem will be exposed for it's lack of sense.
I guess what annoys me most is the insistence of some commentators on repeating arguments that have already been made several times, often in nearly the same words. Do these people even read the prior comments before they repeat the (insert label, orientation, religion, etc) standard text? Don't they understand that only idiots become convinced by repetition? The rest of us just ignore the redundancy. Their name/handle is filed away under "pay no attention to this moron."
I believe that some people type just to see the words on the screen/web page/blog, not because they actually have anything to add to a discussion. "Forty seven of us think that 2yhdfg55 is an idiot, but 29 of us contend that he is a genius" is an astoundingly meaningless assertion, but one sees this kind of statement start a conflagration that boggles the mind for it's insane animosity and the sheer volume of commentary.
This is nothing compared to what happens when someone says something truly creative.
Certainly there are some people who have the knowledge, poise and wisdom to add clarity, fact and passion to any discussion, but they are being drowned out by fools, busy dispelling doubt; unarmed contestants in a war of wits.
Wouldn't it be better if all the bloggers could just set up polls for the merely opinionated, and leave the comments to those with fresh ideas?
Ain't the internet great? At least I have a lot of reading material. Even us blind pigs do find acorns sometimes.
And that's MY opinion.
It seems that there are a lot of folks dispelling that doubt. No doubt I, too, dispel it more than I like. Certainly there are many hot button issues that have a lot of folks saying the same old things over and over again, but never adding clarity or new data. Repeating the same old arguments to the same old enemies, whose minds are just as closed as they always were, is the same old waste of time, but a lot of it is happening in a lot of places, with the same old results. None.
I think that Robert Heinlein had it right when he said something to the effect that we all know one horse is faster than another, but which one? Who's right?
He also said that "Sure, the game is rigged, but it's the only game in town, and you can't win if you don't play."
Of course, there's no rule that says you can't make up your own rules, only a rule that you can't force others to play by your rules. It takes a salesman or a diplomat to make that happen. Or a government with it's monopoly on force.
The same is true about opinions. Anyone can have any opinion or none on any given subject, and within laws or dictates applicable to them, express it, but the market of ideas is free to choose from all available opinions, and over the course of time, the market will choose the one that fits best. It might not be a solution, but it will prevail until a better fit is found for whatever the issue might be. Or until the issue is dead. A bad approach to a problem will be exposed for it's lack of sense.
I guess what annoys me most is the insistence of some commentators on repeating arguments that have already been made several times, often in nearly the same words. Do these people even read the prior comments before they repeat the (insert label, orientation, religion, etc) standard text? Don't they understand that only idiots become convinced by repetition? The rest of us just ignore the redundancy. Their name/handle is filed away under "pay no attention to this moron."
I believe that some people type just to see the words on the screen/web page/blog, not because they actually have anything to add to a discussion. "Forty seven of us think that 2yhdfg55 is an idiot, but 29 of us contend that he is a genius" is an astoundingly meaningless assertion, but one sees this kind of statement start a conflagration that boggles the mind for it's insane animosity and the sheer volume of commentary.
This is nothing compared to what happens when someone says something truly creative.
Certainly there are some people who have the knowledge, poise and wisdom to add clarity, fact and passion to any discussion, but they are being drowned out by fools, busy dispelling doubt; unarmed contestants in a war of wits.
Wouldn't it be better if all the bloggers could just set up polls for the merely opinionated, and leave the comments to those with fresh ideas?
Ain't the internet great? At least I have a lot of reading material. Even us blind pigs do find acorns sometimes.
And that's MY opinion.
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