Monday, September 27, In the year of our Lord 2010
Caronport, Saskatchewan, My House.
9:46 PM, Reflecting on Philosophy Class
Weather = Clear, Starry Skies, cool to cold
Screamo is evil. I have known this all along, and now I have proof! It not only sounds terrible it IS terrible, at least it is if you are going on Platonic Philosophical reasoning.
It is a core belief in Platonic Philosophy that the most important step you can take to educate yourself and attune yourself to The Good is to listen to Good music. In the Platonic way of thinking, music is the embodiment of The Good. The Good is all the pieces of your inner being, your relationships within yourself, with your spouse, family, neighbors, politics, nature, and all things working together in harmony. So Classical music is the embodiment of The Good which changes our thinking, our emotions, our desires, and this effects our wills. Classical Music is ordered harmony which inspires the hearer to search out true knowledge and understanding. (and this is extended much farther than just pieces like Mozart and Beethoven).
Screamo is not orderly, it is chaos. It is a form of music that does not embody harmony within yourself towards others, nor does it inspire you to find true knowledge. Screamo appeals to base desires which affects your reason which affects your will, and it does this in such a way that it manipulates you against freedom of thought.
Classical music affects your desires, reason, and will simultaneously and guides you into freedom of thought.
So that is my new philosophical reasoning as to why Screamo is evil. I always thought something was actually WRONG with the genre, and now I have an actual argument besides preference. Yay Philosophy!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
It begins
Saturday, September 25, In the year of our Lord 2010
My House, Caronport Saskatchewan
2:46 PM, just returning from the Library
Weather = Warm, Sunny, moderate wind
It begins. If I am to succeed at the masters level my thesis must become as video games to me. I must allow it to consume my thoughts and give it access to all my spare time. May God grant me the grace to uphold this task.
I have printed off three reference sources on my topic and will go through them shortly for the bibliographic information. I am going to write before and after my research and put it in a separate private blog as a way of ensuring external storage of my thoughts. I also need to do as David said and separate my work space from my living space. I already feel the tug of SC2, RT3, DnD, and SHC. My music seems to be more distracting than helpful.
So yes, this thesis must become as all consuming as a brand new shiny video game. I remember when I started Assassin's Creed 2, and how it utterly dominated my mind. It was... glorious. Similar games have been Age of Empires, anything put out by Bioware, and most recently StarCraft 2. I must work at my thesis and think about it as much as any of these. I am a doomed man, for if I achieve this, then I will never have a social life and my long term goal of finding a wife will probably become longer term.
Then again, I am a whole person. I need the social aspect of life and will implode without it. Imploding is detrimental to my thesis, therefore it should be avoided. Ok, I can live with that. Whew. Terminating topic before a less pleasant revelation is stumbled upon.
Greg Out
My House, Caronport Saskatchewan
2:46 PM, just returning from the Library
Weather = Warm, Sunny, moderate wind
It begins. If I am to succeed at the masters level my thesis must become as video games to me. I must allow it to consume my thoughts and give it access to all my spare time. May God grant me the grace to uphold this task.
I have printed off three reference sources on my topic and will go through them shortly for the bibliographic information. I am going to write before and after my research and put it in a separate private blog as a way of ensuring external storage of my thoughts. I also need to do as David said and separate my work space from my living space. I already feel the tug of SC2, RT3, DnD, and SHC. My music seems to be more distracting than helpful.
So yes, this thesis must become as all consuming as a brand new shiny video game. I remember when I started Assassin's Creed 2, and how it utterly dominated my mind. It was... glorious. Similar games have been Age of Empires, anything put out by Bioware, and most recently StarCraft 2. I must work at my thesis and think about it as much as any of these. I am a doomed man, for if I achieve this, then I will never have a social life and my long term goal of finding a wife will probably become longer term.
Then again, I am a whole person. I need the social aspect of life and will implode without it. Imploding is detrimental to my thesis, therefore it should be avoided. Ok, I can live with that. Whew. Terminating topic before a less pleasant revelation is stumbled upon.
Greg Out
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Unity of Thought?
Wednesday, September 22, In the year of our Lord 2010
My House, Caronport Saskatchewan
Preparing Supper, 5:58 PM
Weather was warm and sunny, is now cool and overcast
I have been learning some interesting things today. I am attempting to keep up with 'The Dialectic of Reading and Writing.' (heh... my prof just gave me 5 bonus marks if he ever reads this)
Now what did I learn again? I got distracted on the internet for a few minutes and don't remember. I think this was it. The different modes of writing. There is free writing (which I am doing now) which is a warm up exercise for the brain. After all, the brain is a literal muscle that needs some prepping before running an academic marathon (writing a paper) just like you need to warm up your other muscles before running a literal marathon. Then there is actual writing where you are interacting with the material, dialogging with it, but not overly concerned with format or detail. Then there's different levels of re-writing and editing to create a well thought out and thoroughly understood project.
I find it difficult to believe that I will be writing a thesis, I mean, that level of scholarship is a definite jump from where I am at now. It will be a lot of hard hard work of research and writing and actually becoming a master (I am going for my Masters after all) in a piece of academia.
And then there was philosophy class. I love it. Jamie is an amazing professor and I sincerely hope he is actually teaching how to acquire Freedom of Thought and not just Plato for sake of teaching us Plato. Regardless of that, I found some interesting connections between Plato's philosophy and my own life.
My disgust at TV and pop music isn't just me, apparently it is the first step in acquiring true knowledge. The media provides pop-stuff that appeals to our immediate desires which affect our reason which determine our wills. Pop-anything is an attempt to brainwash us. I am glad that I am not the first and only person to have given up on these things. It is strangely comforting to see that I have been already moving towards what Plato would call Freedom of Thought.
Freedom of Thought, Freedom of Thought... what a strange concept to our Canadian ears. We have never heard of such a thing, but as Jamie says, "the best way to brainwash someone is to make sure they never hear about what you don't want them to hear about." Making decisions and pursuing things not based on Canadian acceptability, ruffling the status quo, questioning the foundations, and being able to rationally and convincingly prove something different that reshapes entire world views is historically seen as subversive... enter Platonic philosophy. Or at least that's as far was we have got in this semester.
So on one hand I am grappling with the pursuit of academic knowledge to write a masters thesis and on the other hand I am grappling with the foundations of knowledge itself. It is slightly overwhelming to say the least.
On that note it's time for hotdogs. Maybe I will find some objective truth in the mustard and ketchup.
Greg Out.
My House, Caronport Saskatchewan
Preparing Supper, 5:58 PM
Weather was warm and sunny, is now cool and overcast
I have been learning some interesting things today. I am attempting to keep up with 'The Dialectic of Reading and Writing.' (heh... my prof just gave me 5 bonus marks if he ever reads this)
Now what did I learn again? I got distracted on the internet for a few minutes and don't remember. I think this was it. The different modes of writing. There is free writing (which I am doing now) which is a warm up exercise for the brain. After all, the brain is a literal muscle that needs some prepping before running an academic marathon (writing a paper) just like you need to warm up your other muscles before running a literal marathon. Then there is actual writing where you are interacting with the material, dialogging with it, but not overly concerned with format or detail. Then there's different levels of re-writing and editing to create a well thought out and thoroughly understood project.
I find it difficult to believe that I will be writing a thesis, I mean, that level of scholarship is a definite jump from where I am at now. It will be a lot of hard hard work of research and writing and actually becoming a master (I am going for my Masters after all) in a piece of academia.
And then there was philosophy class. I love it. Jamie is an amazing professor and I sincerely hope he is actually teaching how to acquire Freedom of Thought and not just Plato for sake of teaching us Plato. Regardless of that, I found some interesting connections between Plato's philosophy and my own life.
My disgust at TV and pop music isn't just me, apparently it is the first step in acquiring true knowledge. The media provides pop-stuff that appeals to our immediate desires which affect our reason which determine our wills. Pop-anything is an attempt to brainwash us. I am glad that I am not the first and only person to have given up on these things. It is strangely comforting to see that I have been already moving towards what Plato would call Freedom of Thought.
Freedom of Thought, Freedom of Thought... what a strange concept to our Canadian ears. We have never heard of such a thing, but as Jamie says, "the best way to brainwash someone is to make sure they never hear about what you don't want them to hear about." Making decisions and pursuing things not based on Canadian acceptability, ruffling the status quo, questioning the foundations, and being able to rationally and convincingly prove something different that reshapes entire world views is historically seen as subversive... enter Platonic philosophy. Or at least that's as far was we have got in this semester.
So on one hand I am grappling with the pursuit of academic knowledge to write a masters thesis and on the other hand I am grappling with the foundations of knowledge itself. It is slightly overwhelming to say the least.
On that note it's time for hotdogs. Maybe I will find some objective truth in the mustard and ketchup.
Greg Out.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Drinking from the Sand Blaster
Tuesday September 21, In the year of our Lord 2010
My House, Caronport Sasktatchewan
Finishing Lunch, 12:35 PM
Weather = Overcast, windy, and cold
(Green is turning to orange/yellow slowly)
I survived day one of classes. Day two has been less interesting but just as intense. I am learning lots though. I am learning that everything I did to write a paper was wrong. My approach was wrong, my note taking was wrong, my building a thesis was wrong, even my reading habits were wrong.
First of all, it is a myth ingrained by our educational system (stupid educational system) that one can 'do the reading' and then 'write the paper.' No no NO no NO! You are never done reading and you must write and continue writing during your reading. I used to gather up my books, read them, take notes, and then say "my research is done, now all I have to do is write the paper." WRONG! It was all WRONG! The stupid system they taught at stupid high school is stupid wrong! Our ideas can not form properly until we write them. An idea, even a revelation, sounds great in our heads, but putting it down into concrete words is difficult and makes it seem not so great. Ideas need to morph and change according to the process of careful research, not remain rigid.
If I am going to actually get anything from this class then I will need to take a lot of time to re-format how I do things. First of all, referencing software (like Zotero) is a must have. Painstaking format of computer folders and word documents is a must have. A systematic external filing system is a must have. a work schedule with specific times and places for each day is a must have.
Well, I wanted to be a professor some day. This is what professorship means. I must succeed or choose to fail. When the week is done... no it will be too late by then... DURING this week I will work at this re-formation of my files, my time, and my life. I will gain good study habits or fail, that is all there is to it. Perhaps locating a more stable source of motivation would be helpful in this endeavor.
Hmm
Greg Out
Just returned from class, 5:00 PM
Weather = Overcast, calm, and cool
I have returned. I have to say that this section is probably the most tedious and monotonous amount of data dump that has happened to me in a very long time. We got a full presentation on library search functions, which would have been fascinating if it weren't for everything looking and sounding exactly the same in a warm room with limited oxygen for an extended hour and a half. Also, I have had this exact presentation happen to me at least one time before. Then we moved to proper formating of things like footnotes, abbreviations, how underlining a title is archaic and stupid, (which was the highlight of my afternoon) the technical definition of plagiarism, and so on and so on. We decided to go half an hour overtime with this monotony.
All that being said, I am learning lots still. I have a tendency to get antzy when I think something is boring, which will make it even more boring because I know that know that I think it is boring. Part of my problem might just be poor listening skills. I think a larger part is that I have heard all these things before, but for some reason I still haven't listened to it yet. I still make mistakes that are silly. Sigh.
Well, now I must make some supper and prepare to be 'kidnapped' by my neighbors for the purpose of playing Mow.
My House, Caronport Sasktatchewan
Finishing Lunch, 12:35 PM
Weather = Overcast, windy, and cold
(Green is turning to orange/yellow slowly)
I survived day one of classes. Day two has been less interesting but just as intense. I am learning lots though. I am learning that everything I did to write a paper was wrong. My approach was wrong, my note taking was wrong, my building a thesis was wrong, even my reading habits were wrong.
First of all, it is a myth ingrained by our educational system (stupid educational system) that one can 'do the reading' and then 'write the paper.' No no NO no NO! You are never done reading and you must write and continue writing during your reading. I used to gather up my books, read them, take notes, and then say "my research is done, now all I have to do is write the paper." WRONG! It was all WRONG! The stupid system they taught at stupid high school is stupid wrong! Our ideas can not form properly until we write them. An idea, even a revelation, sounds great in our heads, but putting it down into concrete words is difficult and makes it seem not so great. Ideas need to morph and change according to the process of careful research, not remain rigid.
If I am going to actually get anything from this class then I will need to take a lot of time to re-format how I do things. First of all, referencing software (like Zotero) is a must have. Painstaking format of computer folders and word documents is a must have. A systematic external filing system is a must have. a work schedule with specific times and places for each day is a must have.
Well, I wanted to be a professor some day. This is what professorship means. I must succeed or choose to fail. When the week is done... no it will be too late by then... DURING this week I will work at this re-formation of my files, my time, and my life. I will gain good study habits or fail, that is all there is to it. Perhaps locating a more stable source of motivation would be helpful in this endeavor.
Hmm
Greg Out
Just returned from class, 5:00 PM
Weather = Overcast, calm, and cool
I have returned. I have to say that this section is probably the most tedious and monotonous amount of data dump that has happened to me in a very long time. We got a full presentation on library search functions, which would have been fascinating if it weren't for everything looking and sounding exactly the same in a warm room with limited oxygen for an extended hour and a half. Also, I have had this exact presentation happen to me at least one time before. Then we moved to proper formating of things like footnotes, abbreviations, how underlining a title is archaic and stupid, (which was the highlight of my afternoon) the technical definition of plagiarism, and so on and so on. We decided to go half an hour overtime with this monotony.
All that being said, I am learning lots still. I have a tendency to get antzy when I think something is boring, which will make it even more boring because I know that know that I think it is boring. Part of my problem might just be poor listening skills. I think a larger part is that I have heard all these things before, but for some reason I still haven't listened to it yet. I still make mistakes that are silly. Sigh.
Well, now I must make some supper and prepare to be 'kidnapped' by my neighbors for the purpose of playing Mow.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Splinterings
Monday, September 20, In the year of our Lord 2010
My House, Caronport Saskatchewan
Collapsing after a long day of class, 10:04PM
Weather = Drizzly, Windy, and Cold
It has rained every Monday for the past six weeks. Grrr
Well, I have returned from class finally. Today I started my Research and Design mod in preparation for writing a thesis. All I can say right now is wow. Wake up, run to class, run home for a bite to eat, run back to class, run to philosophy class, run home for a bite to eat, run to library to do more stuff for class... sigh. Now I am here.
I don't know how many times David said it but I need to read and write, write and read, read and write, repeat. So this is me writing. In writing I supposedly put my thoughts on paper which gives them form and I work things through in my own mind by writing them down.
Actually, I am really tired right now so I don't want to write anything. Seriously, between a job that I try to get full time hours, preparing for class, cooking for myself, and having a semblance of a social life, when am I supposed to do all this extra reading and writing?
Also, pop music is evil. I knew this was true all along, but now my philosophy prof said so. Unfortunately I missed the beginning of class so I am totally taking what he said out of context.
More later
My House, Caronport Saskatchewan
Collapsing after a long day of class, 10:04PM
Weather = Drizzly, Windy, and Cold
It has rained every Monday for the past six weeks. Grrr
Well, I have returned from class finally. Today I started my Research and Design mod in preparation for writing a thesis. All I can say right now is wow. Wake up, run to class, run home for a bite to eat, run back to class, run to philosophy class, run home for a bite to eat, run to library to do more stuff for class... sigh. Now I am here.
I don't know how many times David said it but I need to read and write, write and read, read and write, repeat. So this is me writing. In writing I supposedly put my thoughts on paper which gives them form and I work things through in my own mind by writing them down.
Actually, I am really tired right now so I don't want to write anything. Seriously, between a job that I try to get full time hours, preparing for class, cooking for myself, and having a semblance of a social life, when am I supposed to do all this extra reading and writing?
Also, pop music is evil. I knew this was true all along, but now my philosophy prof said so. Unfortunately I missed the beginning of class so I am totally taking what he said out of context.
More later
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Desolation
Tuesday September 14, In the year of our Lord 2010
My House, Caronport Saskatchewan
11:41 AM, Contemplating and making lunch
Weather = Overcast (everything is still vibrant green!)
Desolation. Last Sunday's service was on Jeremiah and God's declaring desolation for his people who refused to listen to him. It is a hard word, but the reality of it has been made known to me. The first sermon was about how God was the source of living water, water that is running and moving in a land where water is a precious commodity. The people on the other hand, instead of drinking this living water built cisterns, underground ditches to catch the water and hold it. Instead of drinking the fresh good water they try drinking stale months old water from a little kids swimming pool. Even worse though, the cisterns are broken so the water leaks out. But we do this all the time, when we think we need something and try to get it by ourselves.
Now there is the word of desolation. It comes passively by our own stupid decisions and the natural consequences of. It also comes from God when he deliberately speaks to us and we deliberately ignore him. We dry up because we refuse water. We suffocate because we are drowning in our substitutes for water, whatever they may be. (materialism, social groups, electronics, entertainment, the list goes on and on) But the word of desolation is not the end, God always makes a way for the desolation to return to lush green and living land.
I have seen two desolations this week. A friend of mine has been building her own cisterns and has believed lies about herself. In the end she returned to God and looks to Him to bring life back to the desolation. Another friend of mine has been living in his cisterns for I don't know how long. He has made many choices in life that have left him in pain, confused, and alone. He refused to even consider 'biblical crap' or even sound reasoning and continues to wander in a desolate wasteland.
I stop and consider the Fear of God. Who am I to have received his love and patience? I look at the first desolation and see that God is faithful in bringing life. I look at the the second desolation and I am fearful of hardening my heart lest I be given over to my own devices until I am like the prodigal son who only returns because he is penniless, starving, and friendless. These are analogies and metaphors for a larger truth.
God is the source of our life. If we ignore him and take our own direction then that part of our life begins to die. All of us have areas in our life that are dead, and have been dead for a very long time, and often times we are afraid of God's promise to bring them back alive. It is like feeling returning to a frostbitten limb. These dead parts in our life run deep, and the chains that keep us bound bore deep into our hearts. When those chains are rattled the center of our being knows about it and it hurts. But God is the preacher who rattles our chains, he is the comforter who sympathizes with our suffering, he is the surgeon who removes the chains and brings us healing and he is the teacher who leads us into a full life. He also chooses to use his followers for exactly these roles with himself.
So if you hear the words of God today, do not harden your heart but stop and listen.
My House, Caronport Saskatchewan
11:41 AM, Contemplating and making lunch
Weather = Overcast (everything is still vibrant green!)
Desolation. Last Sunday's service was on Jeremiah and God's declaring desolation for his people who refused to listen to him. It is a hard word, but the reality of it has been made known to me. The first sermon was about how God was the source of living water, water that is running and moving in a land where water is a precious commodity. The people on the other hand, instead of drinking this living water built cisterns, underground ditches to catch the water and hold it. Instead of drinking the fresh good water they try drinking stale months old water from a little kids swimming pool. Even worse though, the cisterns are broken so the water leaks out. But we do this all the time, when we think we need something and try to get it by ourselves.
Now there is the word of desolation. It comes passively by our own stupid decisions and the natural consequences of. It also comes from God when he deliberately speaks to us and we deliberately ignore him. We dry up because we refuse water. We suffocate because we are drowning in our substitutes for water, whatever they may be. (materialism, social groups, electronics, entertainment, the list goes on and on) But the word of desolation is not the end, God always makes a way for the desolation to return to lush green and living land.
I have seen two desolations this week. A friend of mine has been building her own cisterns and has believed lies about herself. In the end she returned to God and looks to Him to bring life back to the desolation. Another friend of mine has been living in his cisterns for I don't know how long. He has made many choices in life that have left him in pain, confused, and alone. He refused to even consider 'biblical crap' or even sound reasoning and continues to wander in a desolate wasteland.
I stop and consider the Fear of God. Who am I to have received his love and patience? I look at the first desolation and see that God is faithful in bringing life. I look at the the second desolation and I am fearful of hardening my heart lest I be given over to my own devices until I am like the prodigal son who only returns because he is penniless, starving, and friendless. These are analogies and metaphors for a larger truth.
God is the source of our life. If we ignore him and take our own direction then that part of our life begins to die. All of us have areas in our life that are dead, and have been dead for a very long time, and often times we are afraid of God's promise to bring them back alive. It is like feeling returning to a frostbitten limb. These dead parts in our life run deep, and the chains that keep us bound bore deep into our hearts. When those chains are rattled the center of our being knows about it and it hurts. But God is the preacher who rattles our chains, he is the comforter who sympathizes with our suffering, he is the surgeon who removes the chains and brings us healing and he is the teacher who leads us into a full life. He also chooses to use his followers for exactly these roles with himself.
So if you hear the words of God today, do not harden your heart but stop and listen.
Monday, September 13, 2010
The Beginning of my Descent into Atheism
Monday, September 13, In the year of our Lord 2010
My House, Caronport, Saskatchewan
Devouring Pizza Bagels, 6:26 PM
Weather = Rainy
I have begun what can ONLY be described as my inevitable fall into atheism and despair. I am studying philosophical truth outside the Bible. That's right, I am abandoning God's safe pasture and his solid foundation to embrace the shifting sands and the barren waste of the pursuit of knowledge. The name of this evil is Intro to Philosophy I with Jamie Muir every Monday and Wednesday 4:00-5:15 at Briercrest College and Seminary.
So far I have thoroughly enjoyed myself. I am becoming slowly convinced that some things outside the Bible (like God's eternal truth manifest in nature and human logic) are not of the devil after all. This can only end in my damnation, yet I excitedly press forward. And now we shall read Plato, a pagan philosopher who thought that he could use his reason to get to God and become a free thinker. Tally-ho!
My House, Caronport, Saskatchewan
Devouring Pizza Bagels, 6:26 PM
Weather = Rainy
I have begun what can ONLY be described as my inevitable fall into atheism and despair. I am studying philosophical truth outside the Bible. That's right, I am abandoning God's safe pasture and his solid foundation to embrace the shifting sands and the barren waste of the pursuit of knowledge. The name of this evil is Intro to Philosophy I with Jamie Muir every Monday and Wednesday 4:00-5:15 at Briercrest College and Seminary.
So far I have thoroughly enjoyed myself. I am becoming slowly convinced that some things outside the Bible (like God's eternal truth manifest in nature and human logic) are not of the devil after all. This can only end in my damnation, yet I excitedly press forward. And now we shall read Plato, a pagan philosopher who thought that he could use his reason to get to God and become a free thinker. Tally-ho!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Online Public Forums: The Virtual Communal Latrine
Saturday, September 4, In the year of our Lord 2010
Caronport Saskatchewan, My New House
Fuming over recent experience
Weather = Overcast but Pleasant
"And I beheld a multitude of stupid people who had neither discernment nor understanding and their number was as great as the stars of the heavens..."
(me talking to myself)
Online public forums are literally virtual cesspools of ignorance and stagnation. You can not have an intelligent conversation or discussion of a controversial or difficult concept without having a bunch of virtual ten year olds throwing in their 'well informed' and 'thought out' ideas. Experience and emotion, that's all they have. They do not stop to think, to consider, to bother to understand something that is new or foreign to them. They throw up verbal diarrhea and dump emotional vomit all day long. If it's not something that they immediately agree with they call it stupid. If it's something that requires some higher critical thinking to solve they call it stupid and come up with their own stupid and short sighted answer to a complicated question. If someone posts a well thought out and informative essay on a topic they will either not read it or be unable to understand it and call the author stupid.
Emotional response is not a valid reasoning chip, and neither is the very limited experience of most virtual ten year olds. Repeating the same idea or response over and over again into every topic isn't helpful in any way.
Then there are people who think, who reason, who can formulate ideas and respond to other ideas well. These are the people for which public forums should have been built for (but then I suppose they wouldn't be public any more). At best they can interact, pass the time, learn something new, compare notes, etc. Usually it turns into a group of people who can think who all think alike, agreeing with each other and creating stagnation.
Where did this all come from you ask?
I posted a well thought out essay on the nature of how the Zerg are underpowered in a QQ thread that needed some more meat. What I got back was a bunch of people who never read the entire thread, didn't understand my position, misquoted me and called me stupid. I re-iterated myself twice, and before ten minutes I already had four people scratching their heads, calling it stupid. I ask myself, what is the point? Stupid people should not be allowed on the internet, and by this I will be forced to include myself as well.
Drat you higher critical thinking!
Caronport Saskatchewan, My New House
Fuming over recent experience
Weather = Overcast but Pleasant
"And I beheld a multitude of stupid people who had neither discernment nor understanding and their number was as great as the stars of the heavens..."
(me talking to myself)
Online public forums are literally virtual cesspools of ignorance and stagnation. You can not have an intelligent conversation or discussion of a controversial or difficult concept without having a bunch of virtual ten year olds throwing in their 'well informed' and 'thought out' ideas. Experience and emotion, that's all they have. They do not stop to think, to consider, to bother to understand something that is new or foreign to them. They throw up verbal diarrhea and dump emotional vomit all day long. If it's not something that they immediately agree with they call it stupid. If it's something that requires some higher critical thinking to solve they call it stupid and come up with their own stupid and short sighted answer to a complicated question. If someone posts a well thought out and informative essay on a topic they will either not read it or be unable to understand it and call the author stupid.
Emotional response is not a valid reasoning chip, and neither is the very limited experience of most virtual ten year olds. Repeating the same idea or response over and over again into every topic isn't helpful in any way.
Then there are people who think, who reason, who can formulate ideas and respond to other ideas well. These are the people for which public forums should have been built for (but then I suppose they wouldn't be public any more). At best they can interact, pass the time, learn something new, compare notes, etc. Usually it turns into a group of people who can think who all think alike, agreeing with each other and creating stagnation.
Where did this all come from you ask?
I posted a well thought out essay on the nature of how the Zerg are underpowered in a QQ thread that needed some more meat. What I got back was a bunch of people who never read the entire thread, didn't understand my position, misquoted me and called me stupid. I re-iterated myself twice, and before ten minutes I already had four people scratching their heads, calling it stupid. I ask myself, what is the point? Stupid people should not be allowed on the internet, and by this I will be forced to include myself as well.
Drat you higher critical thinking!
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