A Lot Has Happened Recently

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Yeah, I appreciate all of the goodwill expressed so far. It really means a lot.

Sometimes it's hard to deal with other people's black-and-white perspectives regarding political correctness - some of whom seem to want nothing other than being the recipients of pleasant lies over unpleasant truth.

I hope that the pendulum which seems to accompany change on WP does not swing too far and eliminate yet more core members.

If there is only room for the PR friendly member and the rest are redundant, I believe that type of short term thinking will lead to a level of censorship which is the opposite of why WP still exists (with its freezing, bugs and worrisome glitches) and can still compete for memberships with more modern social media.
If authentic discourse becomes excess to requirement, WP looses its selling point. There has got to be tolerance for everyone.

I absolutely agree.

We should really seek to limit censorship as much as possible.

If we practice too much censorship, we would become like Big Brother in 1984.

But people also have to make responsible use of the Freedom of Speech concept.

I can't influence change here at the level of any censorship or rebukes that may have been made by admin. But I can and will address any instances I see, when I see them.

I agree with the pendulum comment. Communities (including online) are so d*mn hard to manage!

My feeling on the subject is that if you don't like the subject; or if you know that the poster is what you would consider to be a troll or a jerk, don't read the post.

Fnord, you are not an arse-head.

You are, in my opinion, a decent and caring person with strong opinions and the sort of communication style that can make you come across as insulting/condescending/hurtful/uncaring even when you have no intention of being any of those things.

I agree.

Saying things diplomatically doesn't mean being dishonest. It just means saying things in a way that communicates respect/concern for the opinions and feelings of others (or at least tolerance, in the case of other people's opinions). It won't make people who disagree with and dislike your opinions magically agree with you or like what you have to say, but it can go a long way towards improving relationships and getting/keeping people interested in what you have to say.

Fnord, Do you feel a little better?

A little better than what?

She probably means: Do you feel better today than yesterday?

Well ... I am sneezing more ... and I didn't get enough sleep last night ... So, no.

I also think she hopes that this thread provided a catharsis for you.

I mean better than the day you started the thread and called yourself an arse-head.

As I've already stated:

While I do feel better, I'm still concerned that if enough people - or even one person - complain about me, I will be banished, fired, and/or excommunicated again.

From one know-it-all to another: Can you handle other people who are know-it-alls? Or however that's supposed to be spelled....English is not my native language.

I tend to adore people who know a lot of stuff because they can teach me things I don't know. I am painfully aware that my opinions are unusual, and that I talk too much. Here on WP I let myself go, though, because if I can't be myself here, where can I?

I liked Smudge's post. We are all crap at something. Real friends give advice that effects change. Do you want to be liked by the guys on WP, or IRL, or both? Everybody needs to be appreciated by their friends, but Smudge gives you the tough love you give others.

I am totally fascinated by this post. It's so meta-meta. It's the autistic question in a nutshell. Calling yourself an arse won't make things better, but there is obviously a breakdown of communication somewhere.

Why are some people horribly hurt by the things you say, and others just breeze it off? Do you mean everything you say deadly seriously?

You're lucky to have a bunch of people rooting for you.

You getting banned would make no sense to me as you are a member since 2008, which is longer than most of the mods, and if the way you write was that unacceptable to be punished by a ban I would seriously wonder how in that case you could have made it being a long-term-member in the first place.

I usually learn new things from other "Know-it-alls", so that's not an issue.

It's when I'm called "negative and contentious" for presenting fact-based corrections to someone else's claims or for "asking too many questions" in order to clarify my understanding that gets me down.