Although many flames seem to be born of idle and bored minds, many others, in my experience, are sent by otherwise reasonable people who for some reason get so pissed off that they lose the ability to communicate effectively. What a shame. I've been flamed many times by people who are making valid points. Unfortunately, because of the way they've worded their ideas, I don't pay much attention. Had the flamer phrased his or her thoughts more civilly, they might have impacted me.
So this begs the question: are the majority of flamers just blowing off steam and spewing nonsense that can be safely ignored? Or are they trying to make valid points with valid evidence even though their message gets lost in the hostility? If this is the case, I feel saddened because I'm apparently missing out on much interesting debate, simply because I don't feel like reading immature (and sometimes incomprehensible) drivel.
For all those flamers here and elsewhere, please try to keep this in mind. Even if you have the Right Idea, you'll never convince anyone to change their thinking by insulting them. I (and many others) just might LISTEN to you if you simply refrain from polluting your argument with such unwitty words and phrases as "asshole," "moron," "MicroTool," "M4c Uz1ng m0th3rfux0r," and "bat-eyed monkey homo," to list a few of the more recent ones to pass through my mailboxen.
Long live REASON and RATIONALITY. And yes, long live the FLAMERS, bless them. May they live long enough to actually get a point across.
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So this begs the question: are the majority of flamers just blowing off steam and spewing nonsense that can be safely ignored? Or are they trying to make valid points with valid evidence even though their message gets lost in the hostility? If this is the case, I feel saddened because I'm apparently missing out on much interesting debate, simply because I don't feel like reading immature (and sometimes incomprehensible) drivel.
For all those flamers here and elsewhere, please try to keep this in mind. Even if you have the Right Idea, you'll never convince anyone to change their thinking by insulting them. I (and many others) just might LISTEN to you if you simply refrain from polluting your argument with such unwitty words and phrases as "asshole," "moron," "MicroTool," "M4c Uz1ng m0th3rfux0r," and "bat-eyed monkey homo," to list a few of the more recent ones to pass through my mailboxen.
Long live REASON and RATIONALITY. And yes, long live the FLAMERS, bless them. May they live long enough to actually get a point across.
--Scott