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View Full Version : OT: Lets act like adults.



PaiLumDreamer
01-24-2006, 10:08 PM
Flame wars have never really bothered me. Normally I will read a bit of the argument/childish bickering and move on.

But im confused. Normally the crap that goes on here seems to be between grown guys and gals (blooming lotus :p, RIP).

I HAVE COME TO A CONCLUSION AS TO WHY THIS HAPPENS.

There has always been drama in the MA world. I dont know of one person who can look at me square in the face and tell me that they have never been to a public tournament without some major A$$ complaining or starting something or another. It just comes with the deal.

Martial arts tends to draw people that are easily swayed with tradition (Not all: MMA is kinda the anti-tradition-tradition, amirite? :P) Dont get me wrong, im not saying all tradition is bad. On the contrary, I love traditional CMA-but lets FACE IT ALREADY: this honor crap isnt really cutting it on the INTERNET, or for that matter, anywhere else. Honor was something way back then, but if you are truly secure with yourself and what you're doing, it holds no place in modern times. You are not fighting for your life OR FOR INTERNET SUPERIORITY.

If you're secure with yourself and your teacher, BRUSH OFF THE INSULTS. Nobody is here to prove anything to anyone. You cant force feed information if someone has sewn their mouth shut.

If someone walked up to me and said "Hurrhurr, your Sifu is dumb and cant fight, hurrdeehurr.", I would honestly not give a rats behind. Neither should you. People dont dictate who you or your teachers are, so stop acting like they do.

Carrying on these petty arguments ("Green clown", knife fighter.) is just childish. If someone comes on the board and spouts nonsense, LET THEM or IGNORE THEM. You have the option! IGNORE FUNCTION IS VERY EASY.

Im not writing this because these flame wars hurt my feelings, or whatever. I actually get a decent laugh sometimes...but I would much rather see decent conversation come from these people instead of blind insulting. If you dont agree with someone, theres no harm in giving your own opinion. BUT BOTH PARTIES NEED TO HAVE A BASIC AMOUNT OF RESPECT FOR EACH OTHER AND NOT TOTALLY BASH THEIR PHILOSOPHY, or claims, for that matter.

I remember some Dragon-somethingoranother guy who claimed he could stick his hands in boiling cooking oil. WHoopdeedoo. IMO, if someone is stupid enough to go train with him to do this, they deserve getting their hands burned off! (Natural selection!)

But there is no reason to start big hate-filled fights over something like this. Theres crap all over the internet, but you can choose to ignore it (Paul-Chens long life magnets, or whatever they are?).

I hope im going to get through to some of you guys. I bet a lot of people already agree with me on most of these points :confused:

Internet. Serious Business.

In closing: Just give each other some respect. If it ****es you off so much as to want to start fighting, IGNORE THEM. You wont prove anything by fighting anyone over a crappy argument.

GunnedDownAtrocity
01-24-2006, 10:45 PM
SO IS YOUR FACE!!!!

Knifefighter
01-24-2006, 11:34 PM
I'd be willing to bet that flame wars are good for a website.

I'll bet there are way more hits on a site when people are flaming away.

People love controversy.

Fu-Pow
01-25-2006, 12:03 AM
I think its just that competitive nature inherent in martial arts and martial artists. It spills over onto this forum. However, the more you think about it the more you realize there is nothing to win here. There's no competition. We're all equal here no matter who we are in real life. So we SHOULD just give each other respect....as a default.... because anyone can come on here and say anything at anytime about anyone...anonymously. Given that, what choice do you have other than respect....what choice to you have other than the golden rule? You get what you give.

Know what I mean?

GreenCloudCLF
01-25-2006, 08:29 AM
OT: Lets act like adults.

A lot of people say something like this when people argue and bicker...my question is, where is it stated that if adults argue, fight, and cuss, they are acting like kids?????

If you've ever watched children argue you would notice the arguements that go on here are more adult-oriented. Meaning, adults hold grudges, not children.

Arguing is a part of life. So is conflict...being mad and arguing isn't "childish" it's human...

Chief Fox
01-25-2006, 09:13 AM
Hello, they are acting like adults. Adults fight and bicker all the time. How about that guy who cuts in front of you with out using his turn signal? Or the idiot at work? Or any of the stupid inconsiderate people in the world. They're all adults. Not to mention anything about the adults in charge of international relations. Have you ever seen a political mud slinging campaign? Fighting and bickering IS adult behavior.

I say, lets act like kids!

GeneChing
01-25-2006, 10:48 AM
...A lot of trolls are kids. Most are teenagers. I'm always amused when some adult gets in a flame war with some one who is obviously a teenager. Could you imagine that at a school? Kudos to those that teach teenagers - they can be a challenging lot.

Whether flame wars are good for a website depends largely upon the flame war. If it's between several members that no one likes, it's uninteresting and bad for business. If it involves a large school, then often a lot of new members will sign up to back up their side. If it involves members with a good sense of humor, it can be entertaining. On the whole, flame wars are negative for the site, but there's an occasional one that has a positive effect. It really depends on the participants.

GreenCloudCLF
01-25-2006, 11:08 AM
...A lot of trolls are kids. Most are teenagers.

Is there any evidence to back this statement up? Or only conjecture? I would BELIEVE most trolls are teens, but again adults need outlets too. So why not the anonymity of the internet?

Adults are the same as kids, just bigger (not neccessarily smarter).

hskwarrior
01-25-2006, 11:44 AM
is it really an adult thing "typically " to start flame wars? or is it kind of juvenile?

Knife fighter is correct in the fact that people all love controversy and sometimes controversy is a great form of publicity. a little controversy is good, as long as there's control.

but one thing not mentioned here is we're acting like family. what do brothers who compete against each other do, fight like crazy. but they still have love for each other. being half sicilian my brothers and i interact with each other and people think we are always fighting. but thats how we deal with each other.

I would say flame wars are a good tactic to discover the truth---sometimes. but i would agree with GENE that most of the trolls are either teens, or very immature young and maybe sometimes older adults.

its easy to post a picture of someone and claim that identity here on the forum. start kicking up some dust just for the amusment. but as martial artists we should---and this goes for myself as well----be able to detect when someone is just flaming, starting drama, and realize that 9 times out of 10 you will not run into any of these people.

but for the ones who have met you, they can vouch for your authenticity. in any other case, just dust it off your shoulders and keep on doing what we are doing.

i'm not here to argue anything now, just kicking in my 2 cents.

Becca
01-25-2006, 12:08 PM
Is there any evidence to back this statement up? Or only conjecture? I would BELIEVE most trolls are teens, but again adults need outlets too. So why not the anonymity of the internet?

Adults are the same as kids, just bigger (not neccessarily smarter).
I imagine that Gene, being the head umpaloompa, takes a peek at the identities of newly emerged trolls to make sure they aren't personna non gratta posting under a new screen name.:)

Adults are not just like kids, in my oppinion. Kids tend to be trusting and accepting of others, even sight unseen. They don't develop the egos that cause adults to act irrasionally until they start growing hair in places other than the tops of thier heads. No do most kids have the capacity to hate. They may dislike something or someone if thier best friend/sibling/parent hates something, but they have not yet developed the understanding of human nature enough to truely hate.

Anthony
01-25-2006, 12:48 PM
I think its just that competitive nature inherent in martial arts and martial artists. It spills over onto this forum.

mmm.....I'm not so sure that this is 100% true. I think it's also simple-mindedness and ignorance. For instance:

"If someone walked up to me and said "Hurrhurr, your Sifu is dumb and cant fight, hurrdeehurr.", I would honestly not give a rats behind. Neither should you. People dont dictate who you or your teachers are, so stop acting like they do."

To say something like this requires some reasoning and logic skill (education and intelligence). Obviously the people who want to trade fisti-cuffs either verbal or physical over an insult are simple minded, even stupid. This is a quality of people who are in jail. They committ violence over something meaningless and don't understand that it's wrong or not worth it to ruin your life (again...natural selection). How many fights really happen out of sheer necessity? We're not living in feudal times. Knowledge and intelligence (through education) are the "commodity of kings" in our world. The people who think like PaiLumDreamer are better equipped to survive in this world than people who want to fight for honor (I wont name names).

Next time someone cuts you off in traffic....take a breath, let it go. Give them the finger and they may shoot you.....it it worth it.

GreenCloudCLF
01-25-2006, 12:51 PM
I can login and make my profile say I am a 12 year old girl (boy I wish I was)...no one really knows who is at the other end typing, not even the all-powerful Gene.

I mean, you could be who you say, or you could be a 400-lb LSD using hermaphrodite...smae goes for me (but I prefer crack)

IronFist
01-25-2006, 01:19 PM
PLD = BL

10 character limit

hskwarrior
01-25-2006, 01:34 PM
i'd go and see my sifu about that crack addiction, it may cut into your training time;)

Becca
01-25-2006, 01:59 PM
I can login and make my profile say I am a 12 year old girl (boy I wish I was)...no one really knows who is at the other end typing, not even the all-powerful Gene.

I mean, you could be who you say, or you could be a 400-lb LSD using hermaphrodite...smae goes for me (but I prefer crack)
... But did you know that they can track you by what computer you are using, and your e-mail will also indicate if a minor or an adult? There are lots of wayt o check that the average person just would not think about, and the avarage troll isn't worried about.:)

PaiLumDreamer
01-25-2006, 07:36 PM
PLD = BL

10 character limit

:eek: OH SHI-

GeneChing
01-30-2006, 10:25 AM
...I'm so glad that you didn't call me a 400-lb LSD using hermaphrodite.

Actually, there's no hard evidence that most trolls are teens. GreenCloudCLF is totally correct in saying that anyone can type anything in their profile. If I was really industrious, I could investigate further, but I generally don't invest that much energy in trolls. I only banter with them if their funny and ban them when they aren't. It's a very simple relationship. However, I also make my living here as, among other things, an editor. This means that I have to be able to read into what people write - I need to have a general idea of who they are and what they are saying, or trying to say. So my comment is totally anecdotal, but at least it's coming from an all-powerful source. :rolleyes:

You have no idea how many submissions I have to read. Sometimes, they suck, like elementary school papers. Actually, they often suck like this, sad to say. Sometimes, they are diamonds in the rough. A little work and they might really have something good. A lot of the submissions we get from Chinese speakers are like that - horrible grammer because it's their 2nd language, but some great kernal of kung fu in the article. That being said, I have to be able to figure how much to invest in them - whether they truly have potential. Lemme tell ya, there's nothing more disappointing than working with someone over several drafts of an article to find that they just don't have it in the end.

Also in a former life, I worked as a TA on the University level. I read a lot of papers from teenager and early twenties, so I'm pretty sensitive to their writing style. Perhaps I should have said that most trolls have a teenage mentality. And I should add that most teenagers are pretty translucent - they often tip their hand so they're pretty easy to identify.

GeneChing
01-31-2006, 11:46 AM
I'd guess you're prepubescent - filled with wonder and innocence, soon to be crushed by the onset of hormones and members like gda. That's less transluscent. ;)