[MLB-WIRELESS] Tolerance & Gain

[Craig Sanders]

On Thu, Jan 16, 2003 at 07:18:50AM +1100, Grant McHerron wrote:
> You know, it would seem from all the CR^P being sent around this
> mailing list lately that some of the folks out here have forgotten
> something rather interesting about the world of WIRELESS SYSTEMS...
> 
> With zero tolerance to allow for differences/shifts/angles/etc, the
> gain often drops to zero

actually, it's low tolerance for misleading/false/just-plain-wrong
information being propagated.  to those who know how mail on the
internet works, some of the proposed "fixes" to non-problems are as
wrong as stating that "2 + 2 = 49.273".  not just slightly wrong, not
just off-by-one, but completely wrong.  when you see people who are
belligerently wrong AND, worse, spreading that incorrect information
then there is an *obligation* to correct the mistake before it spreads
too far and infects too many minds.

ignoring that obligation means that uncorrected & unchallenged
falsehoods become "common knowledge".

> Think about it before blasting people for being stupid, etc.

personally, i'd be happy if people actually thought about things for a
few minutes before making stupid utterences in public.  sometimes,
blasting them in public for being stupid is the only thing that might
give them pause and THINK before speaking.

too many people speak without engaging their brain - they spout out the
first thing that comes to mind, they aren't capable of backing up or
supporting any of the claims they've made, they don't edit or review
what they are about to post before they send it, they diagnose problems
without any knowledge or skill, they prescribe "fixes" that do nothing
but demonstrate their ignorance, and so on.

most people on most lists (in fact, most people in real life) would
benefit if they heeded the following advice: better to remain silent and
perhaps be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

> Think about it before loudly proclaiming you're right and others are
> wrong.

see first paragraph above.  sometimes people ARE wrong and sometimes
this fact needs to be highlighted before too many people are misled.

> Taking the time to review your response, write in a helpful manner
> and/or attempt to gently educate others is a LOT harder than just
> shooting off a nasty piece of work, isn't it...

unfortunately, some people don't like to be educated and respond rudely
to any attempt to explain things to them with insults like "jerkoff" and
"arsehole".  not surprisingly, things tend to go downhill from there.


> Sorry to vent - just rather amused by the way a bunch of supposedly
> intelligent people yet again demonstrate their complete inability to
> behave in a semi-social environment. Been seeing this since I started
> on-line in the early 80's - sad to imagine that this may be the only
> true constant in the universe :(

so, it's OK to flame as long as you're being trite and as long as you're
being hypocritical?

personally, i find lame "be nice" sentiments to be far more offensive
than any technical argument.    progress is made through the clash and
compromise of ideas, very little progress is made by people who spend
all their time agreeing with each other.

in fact, tech arguments tend only to get "nasty" when one side is
clearly in the wrong but refuses to admit it - then they descend to
calling people arseholes and other ad-hominem attacks....they can't
argue the point so they attack the person.

craig

-- 
craig sanders <cas at taz.net.au>

Fabricati Diem, PVNC.
 -- motto of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch

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