Enough is enough
Oh, well. I've (temporarily?) unsubscribed mensa.talk.misc, as I've
done some other newsgroups and mailing lists over the years. One thing
I've learned about such fora is that they are often dominated by a core
group, folks who've been there a while and generally agree with each
other (or remain silent if they disagree), and if you have a conflict
with anybody in the core group and none of the others are willing to
(openly) come to your defense, you're going to waste a lot of time... as
I have done with issues like these...
Another tip, to paraphrase an old Zen proverb: First post, best
post. I put a lot of effort into my initial post in a thread,
and say pretty much all I have to say, checking dictionaries to make
sure I'm using the right words, investigating different angles to
make sure my arguments hold water, and learning a lot more about the
subject while doing research for my post. Even so, and even when stating
facts, I have wasted a lot of time afterward trying to explain what I
meant by what I wrote, to people who either refuse to read
carefully or don't have a firm grasp of the language. I've promised
myself that I won't do that anymore. Maybe one follow-up post... more
if somebody brings up something new and relevant, building upon what
I and others have written... but that's it. I'm not going to quote
the dictionary any more, and I'm not going to explain the sentences
to people who haven't read carefully, and I'm not going to waste any
more time defending myself against misquotes and misinterpretations.
Enough is enough!
5 Februaro 2001 modifita, de Ailanto verkita.